


Can’t You See (What That Woman Been Doing to Me)

by akaJameson



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Canon Expansion, F/F, Happy Ending, Heroes and Villains, Neverland, Sharing a Bed, Smut, Storybrooke, Swan-Mills Family, true loves kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 12:08:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 65,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15818583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akaJameson/pseuds/akaJameson
Summary: Mostly a canon expansion universe look at what could happen if Regina and Emma had a secret romance kindling and SwanQueen was endgame taking place mostly in seasons three/four aka Neverland and Storybrooke. Some moments are scenes from the show with expansion on Regina/Emma moments in OUAT. I do not own the characters or any content from the show.





	1. I Didn’t Come For Trouble, I’ve Never Been That Subtle

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first fic I have written. If you like it or want to chat, please comment or find me on twitter @JamesonAka
> 
> All of my chapter titles are related in some way, whoever figures it out will get a one shot smut scene written for them. Thanks!

     A buoy clanged back and forth in the distance while seagulls cawed to each other. Emma Swan sat on a cement bench at the end of a wharf, staring at her palm. She was attempting to summon magic. She flicked her wrists and outstretched her hand, but to no avail. The most that she could produce was a few little wisps of light.

 

The past year had been a constantly changing landscape in Emma’s life. She had reconnected with her son and her parents; for the first time in a long time, Emma actually had friends. The more she got settled in Storybrooke, the more she wanted to run away and never look back. She sighed, some part of her would always be that lonely street kid.

The whole time she had been in Storybrooke, Gold had tricked her. The whole reason that he had convinced Regina to cast the Dark Curse in the first place was to get to the Land Without Magic to find his son that he had abandoned. It was Gold’s fault that Emma had grown up all alone, and she was trying to not be indignant about that, for the sake of Henry. He was technically his other grandfather, a fact that Emma was still trying to get used to.

 

     Frustrated with her inability to produce magic, she threw her hands in the air and let out an exasperated sigh. She decided to turn her attention to learning more about the history of the people in the town. 

 

     Emma crossed her legs with the story book in her hands and started to intensely read it, with her hair in her face, trying to piece everything together. She was so engrossed by it that she failed to notice the click of high heels coming towards her and was startled to see Regina peeking over her shoulder.

  
Regina smirked, reveling in her ability to startle the Savior, “Reading up on Henry's father?” Regina paused, pursing her lips sassily as she glared at the picture of Rumplestiltskin on the page that Emma was looking at, “Or maybe his grandfather?” Regina crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at Emma, “How long did you think you could keep that from me?”

     Emma rolled her eyes at the Mayor. Regina was challenging to be around some times. She was so guarded and quick tempered that Emma never knew what might set her off. Regina often attempted to assert her dominance over Emma, but Emma had started to get used to it. She knew that Regina wanted to rile her up, and she was not going to have it today. Without removing her gaze from the book, Emma offered a snarky, “Well, I was going to tell you, but I was kind of busy trying to stop you and your mother from killing me and my entire family.”

 

     Regina ignored the comment and walked around so she could join Emma on the bench. She obviously had come to find Emma with something on her mind. She started, “What is he doing here?” she said, a little uneasy.

 

      Emma shrugged. She hadn’t given too much thought to Neal’s reappearance out of fear of falling for him again. Nonchalantly, Emma responded, “Neal? Relax. He just wants to spend a little time with his son.”

 

     This struck a chord with Regina. Henry was  _ her _ son. She was still getting used to sharing him with the insufferable blonde who had shown up, and now she was expected to just let him galavant off with his father, too? Regina felt taken advantage of. “Funny, he didn't seem to want to spend time with him the first ten years of his life.” Regina said, her voice full of judgement. With a jab, she added, “But, then again, neither did you.”

 

     That did it.  Emma attempted to hold back the venom in her voice as she responded, “You know what, Regina? How about instead of worrying about everyone else, you start focusing on trying to be the person Henry wants you to be before you lose him for good?”

 

     Regina let out a small gasp at Emma’s surprisingly harsh words. "‘For good?’ What does that mean?” She questioned.

 

     “Nothing.” Emma said, rolling her eyes. Regina was challenging to be around some times. She was so guarded and quick tempered that Emma never knew what might set her off. “Unlike you, the rest of the world isn't always scheming to get what they want.” Emma finished through gritted teeth.   
  


     Regina narrowed her eyes and looked at Emma suspiciously. “No. You're hiding something. Well, whatever it is, I can assure you of one thing.” Regina leaned in and grabbed Emma’s hands to show her that she was in control. “I'm going to find out.” Regina finished.

 

     Emma squeezed Regina’s hands back and met Regina’s harsh tone with a softer one, “Regina, I know it’s been hard on you since you lost your mother, but I promise I’m not trying to hurt you, or to lead Henry astray.”  
  
Regina looked down. Emma moved her head around, trying to make eye contact. They locked eyes, and Regina has the shimmer of someone too proud to cry. “Your mother killed my mother.” She managed. The wound was still fresh for the Queen.

 

     Emma sucked some air through her teeth, “Well… she was trying to hurt us. And... didn’t you kill her father?” Emma regretted the words leaving her mouth as soon as she had formed them.

 

  
     “Well, that was different!” Regina argued. “My mother had basically sold me off to be his little puppet. I was 18 and he was god knows how old. Do you really think I ever wanted to be with him? I was just a pawn. A trophy wife. He was the first man I had ever been with, and although he was a good father to Snow, he was not a good husband. I was severely depressed when I was locked away in his castle. What do you think drove me to create the Dark Curse in the first place?” Regina huffed, her heart rate elevated at the buttons Emma had pushed.

 

     “I’d never thought about it that way..” Emma admitted.

 

      “What? Did you really believe that bullshit about me being mad because she was prettier than me?” Regina let out a malicious chuckle. “She may have been younger than me, but I envied her freedom more than her looks.”

 

This explanation made much more sense to Emma. She had never understood the pettiness of the Evil Queen in the stories, but thinking about her being forced to marry a man the same age as her father and raise his daughter who was only a couple of years younger than her.. Emma shuttered. “Past aside, nobody is trying to take Henry away from you. If anything, they just want to love him as well. How can you be mad at people for wanting to love him? As a kid, I had absolutely nobody who loved me. What a wonderful problem for Henry to have..” Emma trailed off.

 

“But.. What if he doesn’t like me anymore, now that he has everybody else? I used to be the only one in his life.” Regina was looking at the horizon, not trusting herself to keep up her strong facade if she looked at the eyes that reminded her so much of her son’s.

 

      Emma sighed. “He’s  _ our _ son, Regina.” She affirmed.

 

       Regina threw her hands in the air. “You abandoned him. I have done everything for him. I have sacrificed so much to make sure that he can live his dreams! Then, he runs off, and finds… well… you. The “Savior”. Well, Savior, since you have gotten to town, look how much harder his life has gotten- how much more dangerous! He would have been happy with just me!” One tear escaped from Regina’s eye, and she quickly brushed it away with her sleeve.

 

       Before she even knew what she was doing, Emma put her hand delicately on Regina’s cheek. “I know that this has been a mess, and I regret that I abandoned him every single day…” Emma started, fighting the knot in the back of her throat, “But, you got to raise him, and provide him with family and stability, and for that, I could never thank or repay you. Now that I know about you and him, we are family. I will never abandon you. You are his mother, too.”

  
Regina threw Emma’s hand off of her, building her walls back up. “Stop trying to patronize me,” she spat, “just because you birthed him does not make you his mother. He will see. We were happy before you got here.” Regina stood up from the bench and stormed off. The click-clack of her heels on the cement faded into the background, and then she was gone.

  
  
Emma looked down at the book, and sighed heavily. “When will she see that there’s no happy ending for her when she still thinks like this?” She said softly to herself.  
  


Emma continued to read the old story book, but her mind drifted back to Regina. She felt for the woman, after seeing the manipulative monster that was her mother, Cora. Emma had her experience with walls, and she was determined to make Regina see that she only wanted what was best for her and their little family that they were trying to figure out. There was always a sort of chemistry between them, and Emma wanted to harness that to make the best life possible for their son. She just needed to figure out how.   



	2. These Puppet Strings Don’t Pull Themselves

      The past few weeks had been a tumultuous time for the residents of Storybrooke. Between their inner conflicts and being held hostage by people who hated magic, things had not been easy. Not that things had ever been easy for Emma or Regina. Tamara and Greg, hired by an unknown miscreant to destroy Storybrooke, had just tried to enact the failsafe of the Dark Curse, which would make Storybrooke cease to exist in the first place. It was up to the two women with magic to  destroy the chances of it spreading. 

 

       The poor townsfolk, unsure of how to protect themselves, ran about frantically seeking shelter from the impending storm. The Dark Magic swirled in the air and even the animals could tell something wasn’t right. The birds cawed and flew around, trying to escape. Pongo ran throughout Main Street, barking to alert anyone who may not have heard to take cover. 

 

       As the reverse curse spread, the town started to become overrun with plants, as it started to return to the rural forest of Maine. All of Storybrooke became entangled in strong, dark vines that threatened to trap everyone in place. All the while, Emma, David, Henry, Mary Margaret, and Regina were down in the mines, frantically looking for a way to stop the tumbling failsafe from returning things to the way they were before the curse was cast. They needed to force an ending to the spread of the tendrils that overran the town. 

 

      Regina had lead them down to where she had hidden the magic in Storybrooke and was doing her best to slow the spread of the curse, but the force of it was strong. Regina was a fortified woman. She had withstood the torture from the new arrivals. She had overcome the death of her withholding mother. She knew that she was ultimately responsible and that all of this would come crashing back down to her. She strained as she was channeling the energy of the failsafe. “I can't contain this much longer.” Regina grunted and mustered her strength as she used every bit of her magic to try to decelerate the undoing of the town.

 

       Regina made eye contact with Emma, and without saying anything, Emma understood. This was the end. Nothing could stop the inevitable doom that had been started by the invaders. Emma looked at the two people who hadn’t had the opportunity to raise her. “Mom... Dad…” Emma had never called them that before. They embraced tearfully, all realizing that their lives were about to change forever. Henry went over to Regina.

 

      Regina looked at her son. He was starting to go through puberty and his looks were changing from the soft features of a boy into the defined features of a man. She thought about the day that she had brought him home and teared up. She would do anything to protect her son. Even if it meant that she would have to sacrifice herself, she would, because, ‘true love meant sacrifice,’ as she had always heard but never understood until she became a mother. “I love you, Henry. I only wish I was strong enough to stop all this and survive. I'm just not.”   
  
Regina knew what stopping the fail safe meant. Her life. But she was ready to finally do the noble thing, and hopefully, that would make Henry see her true heart- the one without the blackness. Hopefully, he would love her after this was all over and she was gone.    
  
Emma watched Regina struggle against the fail safe, and realized what she had to do. She walked over to Regina and, staring at her own hands, said, “You may not be strong enough, but maybe  _ we _ are.” Emma focused on Regina’s purple magic she stepped up to join her son’s other mother.

 

       Henry, Mary Margaret and David stood back, watching the two women combine their magic. As their magic flowed together, Regina felt something she had not felt in a long time; her heart quickened, her cheeks flushed, and she was warm all over… Was this love she was feeling? They locked eyes and their magic merged, so no one could tell where one stream started and the other ended. Excitement filled Regina’s stomach, and then, with a “Boom!” they flew part and failsafe laid still.  
  
Up above them, the townspeople noticed the overgrown plants retreating and disappearing into nothing. The dwarves hooted and hollered at the victory. Mr. Gold gave an approving nod and walked back into his shop, pleased that the girls were able to stop the reverse of the curse that he had help to craft.

  
Back down in the mines, everybody was starting to stand up, trying to collect themselves after the blast. They had all flown a considerable distance away from where they were initially standing, but there was no blood, and nobody seemed to be hurt.

 

      “We're alive!” David hollered, ecstatic that his daughter had figured out how to save the town, in true Charming fashion. He helped Mary Margaret to her feet. They beamed with pride at Emma's selfless act. Despite not being able to raise her, she possessed a lot of the qualities that they had hoped for their daughter; to be unselfish, brave, and true. 

  
“Emma?” Mary Margaret said as she helped Emma to her feet. Regina went over and picked up the now diffused trigger. She held it in her hand like a bomb that was about to go off.

 

     Emma looked at the trigger in Regina’s hand, still in shock that they were able to stop it. Her gaze ran up to meet Regina’s. At a loss for words, Emma summoned a simple sentence to describe their victory, “We did it.”

 

    With a smirk, Regina clasped her hand around the trigger, and agreed, “Yes, we did.” She felt triumphant, the high of their magic still coursing in her veins.

  
“Gotta hand it to Henry. He's right about a lot of things. Kid has some hell of an intuition.” Mary Margaret said, boasting about her grandson. Henry had a lot of the qualities that the Charmings wanted people to see in themselves. It made her proud that they had passed these down, even through the haze of the curse. 

 

     Emma nodded in agreement. That kid of theirs was pretty perceptive and clever. “Yes, he is. Isn't that right, kid?” Emma turned around to congratulate him, but when she saw the blank space behind her, panic started to sit in. There was no Henry. “Henry?” Emma called out, trying to keep the worry from her voice.   
  
“Henry?” Regina yelled, more assertively. The four of them explored the mines looking for Henry, the air thick with their collective anxiety. There were no sounds, no sign of the tussle-haired boy.

 

     In the distance, a shadowy figure lay on the floor. Emma broke into a run to investigate. “Henry?” she called out, the panic enveloping her throat and sweat rolling down her forehead. What she could see was small, it only could be Henry if he was in the fetal position, yet she continued to sprint towards it.

 

     Behind her, she heard Mary Margaret’s break into a run as she called out, “Emma, what is it? Is it him?” She was terrified that it was the worst case scenario, based on how fast her daughter was running.

 

     Emma came up on the figure, and lamented to find that it was only Henry’s backpack. There was no sign of him. Her heart filled with despair. What had happened? How had he disappeared into thin air? Then, she remembered Greg and Tamara, with their disdain for all things magic. With grief in her voice, she stammered, “Th- they took him.” She was trying to hold back the sobs that were brewing in her throat.   
  


     Just as quickly as warm feelings filled her up, Regina was now cloaked in despair. Everything had been for Henry. She had started to open up, desperately trying to be the person that he believed her to be. All in an instant, he was gone from her life. She would do whatever she could to get him back.   



	3. Split The Aces On The Double Down

      Emma, Regina, Mary Margaret, and David decided to join together with Captain Hook for Operation Save Henry. He was guiding them to Neverland, which was apparently much more dark and hellish than the movies had played it out to be. Emma sat midships, looking at the horizon. Her mother came up next to her, and joined her sitting on the hatch. They were on a broad reach, with the foresail swung way out over the side of the hull, so they didn’t need to worry about the wind suddenly forcing the sail over and smacking them in the head. The light breeze blew the angel’s hairs that had fallen out of Emma’s ponytail.

 

      Staring off into the horizon with her daughter, Mary Margaret offered a soft, “How are you holding up?”

 

      Emma’s knuckles were straining as she gripped the wood she was sitting on. She was nervous, insecure, and felt like a failure of a mother for letting Henry get kidnapped. She wouldn’t dare let herself admit any of this out loud, though. She was tough. She had walls. She had an image to protect. “As well as you would expect,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

 

       The ship bobbed up and down, and Mary Margaret turned to look at her daughter’s face. “We will find him, you know. That is what our family does, we find each other.” 

 

      Emma wasn’t in the mood for one of her hope speeches. She wanted to make a plan; she wanted to fight. Hook hadn’t given them any useful information to make a game plan with, so Emma’s mind had been reeling with possibilities of what they could encounter. “I know,” she said tentatively, “but, what if it is too late? What if they have hurt him? Or turned him into a Lost Boy?”

 

      Mary Margaret squeezed Emma’s hand. “He could never be lost if he is loved,” she said, her voice as sweet as a hopeful honey. “Love is strength, and we will do whatever we have to to recover him.”

 

     Emma took in her mother’s words. She so desperately wanted to believe them, but her years of being pushed down and hopeless definitely took their toll. She was filled with anxiety and her brain went on a constant loop of “It is too late. You can't save him. He doesn’t want to be saved.” Replayed over and over in her head. She needed a way to stop this broken record of doubtful thoughts, but her internal anxiety would not stop the downward spiral. Tears threatened to prick out from her eyes.

 

      “Listen,” Mary Margaret started, “David tried to talk to Regina, but she was very short with him. We all love and miss Henry very much, but I think she is feeling some type of way. Maybe, if you talked to her, both of you might feel a little better?” 

 

       She highly doubted Regina wanted to hear from her. Part of Emma had suspected that Regina blamed her for Henry going missing in the first place. Emma was used to being her own mom, and it felt weird to actually be mothered and encouraged to talk to somebody that she didn’t necessarily want to. Emma sucked some air into her lungs and agreed, “Alright, I’ll go and check on Her Majesty.” Regina had spent most of the day below deck, hiding away from the rest of them after David had tried to give her a hope speech. 

 

      Emma stood up and slowly crossed to the bow of the boat. Hook slept in the Captain’s Quarters, near the stern of the ship, her parents took the midship cabin with the one large bed in it, and Regina and her were sleeping in bunks in the fo’c’sle. Regina had shut the hatch, effectively locking the world away.

 

     Regina was lying on a bunk, staring up. She couldn’t stop thinking about that feeling that she got when Emma helped her to do magic, and that made her uneasy. The magic had come from a different place; it was happy, it was love. She had never practiced magic like this. She had always honed in on her anger to make things happen. Could there be another way? What did this all mean? It made her very anxious to analyze the implications. 

 

     The hatch opened, causing sunlight to spill into the small room that Regina had only had lit with a lantern. With a grunt, the hatch slid to it’s fully open position, and the two weather blocks were removed. With the click of her boots on the wooden pieces beneath them, Emma descended the companionway.

 

     It took a minute for Emma’s eyes to adjust. She hoped that Regina couldn’t see the face she was making as she squinted to try to discern the shapes around her. When she saw Regina laying on the bunk, she asked, “How are you holding up, stranger?” Emma crossed the empty space towards Regina, and sat on the edge of her bunk near Regina’s hips.

 

    Regina continued to stare at the wood above her as she coldly responded to Emma, “I’ve been through worse. I just care about getting my son back. You don’t have to be a hero and pretend to care about me.” She grabbed the hair on the top of her head and let out a frustrated sigh.

  
Emma rolled her eyes. She knew that she could be stubborn, but, damn, Regina’s walls were a thousand feet tall and a hundred feet thick. Every time Emma wanted to help the woman, she about quit because of her attitude. She carefully picked her next words as to not start a fight. “I’m not pretending, I do care about you. And our son.” She said, “Mary Margaret told me that David had been pestering you, which I guess sent you down here to escape. I just thought you could use some company maybe that you might want some help processing?”

 

     Regina scoffed, was the Savior‘s head so far up her own ass that she thought that the Queen would actually turn to her for help? “I’ve been on my own for a while now; I don’t need your help processing, thanks.” The “thanks” rolled off of her tongue with some venom. 

 

Emma sighed. Regina could me so difficult. “Okay, maybe you don’t need help processing, but I do.” She said, with a painstaking effort not to sound like she was being patronizing.

 

    Regina pulled the hair behind her ear and finally made eye contact with the younger woman. The hurt and rage was swirling beneath the surface of her gorgeous brown eyes as she attacked. “Oh, little Savior is finally playing mommy and doesn’t know how to feel about her son being lost throughout the realms?” She rudely questioned.

  
Emma took it in stride. “Seriously, stop with the walls. Cut the shit. I know the person Henry sees you for is in there. I just wanted to talk about magic with you.”  
  
Regina raised an eyebrow and scoffed, “Oh?” She inquired.  
  
Emma fiddled with her hands. She looked down at them as she answered Regina, “Yes, now that I know that I am new to magic, what I felt when we did that together was… Indescribable. I felt warm and tingly, I’ve never felt anything like that before. Is that a common side effect?” Emma looked kind of cute when she was nervous, Regina noted.  
  
Regina had thought about those feelings, too. It had been a warmth, a love, and somehow felt like an inevitability. “Honestly,” Regina started before she paused to take a deep breath in, “I have never felt that way before. I’ve always turn on my anger and revenge for my magic this was… Different.” Thinking about how she had felt caused Regina’s muscles to loosen a bit, and she was a little more relaxed. Emma wasn’t blaming her for anything. She just wanted to talk to her. The thought of that was relieving because the brunette had gotten so used to everyone blaming her for their problems. 

  
Regina turned her head back to stare at the bulkhead. Emma sat there,  next to her, quietly thinking. She timidly reached her palm out to push Regina‘s hair out of her face. When Regina didn’t shrink away from her as she had expected, Emma moved Regina’s head with her hands to face her directly.  
  
Emma’s green eyes bored past the front that Regina was putting up. With the smirk of a child about to get into mischief, Emma proclaimed, “So what you’re saying is, this time was special?” She looked so proud of herself as she said it.

 

Regina wasn’t going to give into her games or foolishness. She remained impartial and offered, “Maybe it was a mother’s love, The actions of selflessness, honesty, and bravery, or whatever that blue fairy said.” She brushed off.

 

Emma had a warm feeling of compassion for the woman. She rubbed Regina’s cheek lightly with her thumb. “Our magic is special together. Let’s not forget that.” She said softly with a smile on her face.  
  
Regina grabbed Emma’s hand from her face and looked up at her, holding her hand for a second, reveling in the reassurance internally but shows little signs of it externally. “That is how we are going to find our son.” She said, the confidence dripping from her voice.

  
Emma was caught up in the moment, which made her not think twice as she brought Regina’s hand to her mouth, and kissed the top knuckle of Regina’s middle finger. “Yes, we are.” She agreed.  
  
Regina closed her eyes and Emma walked over to her bunk across the way and collapsed on the bed, falling asleep immediately.  



	4. Who Could Deny That Pull

The two mothers were down below on Hook’s ship. It was dark with the hatch closed and the lantern long since blown out. Emma had fallen asleep fairly quickly from pure exhaustion. Regina had listened to her breaths get slower and deeper. She fell asleep to the sounds of the water lapping the side of the ship and Emma’s sleepy breath. The ship swayed from side to side, cradling them to sleep as they kept on course for their voyage to Neverland. Emma was glistening with a light layer of sweat as she tossed and turned in a white camisole, and beige bikini cut panties. She seemed to be squirming in a dream.

 

Regina was a light sleeper and was not pleased with the ruckus that Emma was causing. They had to share the tiniest cabin on the boat, against Regina’s protests, but when she found out that the only other place that Emma could sleep was in Hook’s bed with him, she quickly conceded to sharing a cabin with her, even though she valued her privacy and alone time above all else. The thought of that grimey pirate sharing a bed with the mother of her child made her skin crawl. She could guarantee that he was no gentleman and she wouldn’t want to put Emma in that position. Ha, she thought to herself, maybe I am changing. A couple of months before, she wouldn’t have given a damn what happened to the blonde, as long as it didn’t affect her or her son. 

 

Emma tossed again, letting out a moan from her tangled up sheets. Regina was not known for her patience, so when it happened again, she hushed her. Emma flung her body again and murmured something. In a hushed and frustrated tone, Regina whispered, “Emma, will you please stop it? I’m trying to get some peace and quiet.”

 

Emma groaned as she turned, “Sorry, it’s just hot.” She flung her sheet off of her, and continued to try to push it off with her legs when it didn’t make it that far. The air had felt thicker than it did when she had fallen asleep. Maybe it was because the hatch and weather boards were all sealed up, she thought. If she got hot enough, she resolved that she would open them up, even if the nearly full moon would brighten the cabin considerably. She continued to roll around in her bunk, trying to get comfy. 

 

Regina wasn’t one for nonsense. She believed that grown woman could and should help themselves. Emma was acting like a child, so Regina reached for her favorite go to line from motherhood as said, “Seriously, stop with that racket before I make you.”

 

Emma let out a chuckle at how forceful the older woman was playing. Regina had to show her dominance so often that Emma just had to try to not let it get to her. With some sass, she replied, “Make me? I’d like to see you try. Got any magic cooling spells?”

  
Regina rose from her small bunk and walked over to the blonde. She was wearing a light and lacy black robe, tied tightly around the curve in her waist. She looked like she had just strolled out of a Victoria’s Secret photoshoot, where as Emma was sleeping her basically her undergarments, and looked like a sweaty hot mess. Regina made it to Emma’s bunk and leaned over her. Emma had forgotten how intimidating Regina could make her presence feel. She grabbed Emma’s wrist, and pinned them down by her head, on top of her tousled blonde curls.   


Regina glared into Emma’s eye. She spoke slowly and fiercely through gritted teeth, “Be. Quiet.” She tightened her grip on the blonde’s wrists and narrowed her eyes to indicate that she was not fucking around. Regina needed her sleep or she was going to be ten times as ornery in the morning. 

 

Emma squirmed a little underneath the brunette’s dominating presence. When she realized that Regina wasn’t about to let go, she looked at her meekly and apologized. “I’m sorry, I was just so hot and uncomfortable.” Suddenly, Emma felt heat coming out of Regina’s hands and flow into her wrists. Regina lowered her face closer to Emmas; so close at their noses were almost touching. Emma took a deep breath, her chest touching Regina’s as she did. She looked down at the older woman’s chest… Regina was wearing a black corset under a black silk robe. Who was she trying to impress? Emma thought. It was just the two of them sleeping in the fo’c’sle. Regina took a breath, and Emma watched Regina’s breasts rise in front of her.

  
Regina filled her lungs with the hot and humid air, “Miss Swan, I can make you hot and uncomfortable.” Regina finished her sentence and bit her bottom lip as she continued to stare Emma down.The Queen gripped  tighter, and the warmth from her hands spread down Emma’s body. It was kind of scary… But also, kind of arousing, in some fucked up sort of way, having this incredibly sexy woman bending over her, telling her to follow her instructions. Emma had usually been a top in all of her previous sexual encounters but something about Regina was making Emma want to submit to her every command. Her nipples visibly hardened under her white tank top as Regina stared her down. 

  
Emma noticed that her heart had accelerated. Her eyes trained on Regina’s thick pouty lips. She had a sudden and overwhelming urge to pull her son’s mother into her and press her lips against hers. But, she was still held down by her strong grasp, and was powerless to do anything but speak. “Regina… please…” Emma moaned.

  
“Please what?” Regina replied. She sounded far away, much further sounding than she should. It didn’t make any sense to Emma. “Please, what?” She said again, directing Emma’s attention towards Regina’s bunk. 

  
Emma woke up alone in her bunk, with Regina across the way in her’s, wearing black silk two piece button up black silk pajamas. It took her a second to get her bearings. “So, was that not real? I guess not,” Emma thought. She had never had such a vivid dream before. It took her a minute to get back to reality, but Regina’s voice coaxed her along. She was still hot and squirming, but she was slowly piecing together what was reality and what was her unconscious. 

  
“Emma, are you awake? Please, what?” Regina questioned.  
  
Brushing it off and hoping that she hadn’t said more in her sleep, Emma responded, “Oh, nothing, it was just a dream.” She could still feel the shadow of Dream Regina on her, her nipples had been hard as rocks when she woke up and there was a sopping pool of want in her panties. She hoped that Regina couldn’t tell through her thin clothes.

 

Regina had a menacing grin on her face as she looked at Emma. She was laying on her stomach in her bunk. “Well, if you ask me,” Regina started, “It sounded like you were begging me, dear.” Regina winked as Emma turned her head to make eye contact with her. “Begging me for what? I don’t know. Hopefully your life?” She teased. Regina rolled over onto her side, and added, “You just can’t escape me, can you?” Her pride had filled the room at the bow of the ship.

 

Emma was embarrassed by her sleep talking. She had done it since she was a child, and it was one of the reasons that she usually left suitor’s houses after their head hit the pillow case. The blonde meekly responded with an, “I guess not…” Emma pulled her sheets up to her chin. She noticed the warm wetness in between her legs and thought to herself,  “I guess she did make me hot and uncomfortable“ then she justified in her consciousness, “it’s just been a dry spell for me. It doesn’t mean anything. She was just the last person I saw before I fell asleep.” Her clit was pulsing, it begged for release, but Emma knew that she couldn’t get away with touching herself in a room so small, especially with someone who was probably “too good” to touch herself. 

  
Regina faced the bulkhead, away from Emma, smiling very smuggly. She knew that sound that had been released from Emma’s sleepy lips. She had made plenty of men make that sound. This is gonna be fun for her, teasing Emma. Pretending that she didn’t know about her dream. She couldn’t wait to make Emma squirm. They both fell asleep without another word. 


	5. As Often As You’ve Wandered, You Carry Too Much Weight

The day broke over the Jolly Roger, and it’s inhabitants slowly filtered onto the deck. From down below. Hook was the first one up. After years of living the sailor’s life, he always wanted to be up for dog watch, which had become his favorite. Charming woke up next, and quietly descended into the galley to brew some coffee. He emerged ten minutes later with three cups precariously positioned in his hands, while he tried his best to be stable on the quaking ship. He handed one off to Hook, then called down the midships hatch to let Snow know that her cup was ready. Regina had silently emerged at some point, and was standing near the bowsprit. She could see Neverland in the distance- it wouldn’t be too much longer until she could get her feet onto the land and save her son.

 

Emma had been the last to wake up. After running her fingers through her hair, she slipped on a bra and her jeans, then peaked out of the hatch. Her parents and Hook were at the stern of the ship, making small talk and drinking coffee. She turned her head to see Regina standing alone, her eyes trained straight ahead at the landmass that had appeared since they had gone below the night before.

 

Emma ascended the companionway and slipped quietly behind Regina. She placed her hands on Regina’s hips and whispered in her ear, “Stretch your arms out wide, do you feel like the King of the World?” Emma snickered to herself.

 

“I am a Queen, thank you very much.” Regina said, oblivious to Emma’s reference.

 

Emma laughed at her lack of thought, “Of course, you aren’t in tune with pop culture. It’s from a movie called  _ Titanic _ .” She explained as she backed away to give Her Highness some space.

 

“Cute.” She said curtly, then spun on her heels to join the rest of the group. Emma trailed behind her like a puppy dog. 

 

“So, how much longer until we can get off of this godforsaken ship and actually begin looking for my son?” Regina inquired.

 

“We have fair winds, so we should be making landfall before lunch.” Hook offered.

 

“Do you have a plan for after that, Captain Guyliner?” Regina retorted. She was used to having things get handled quickly and her way, and when it didn’t, her inner drama queen started to show.

 

“I used to be tight with Tinkerbell, so I’m thinking that we should search for her at her old hideout first, and see if she can get us any information on where Pan is keeping your son.” Hook said.

 

Regina’s eyes dropped, and that was the end of the conversation. They dispersed around the ship and watched the shadows of Neverland draw closer and closer to them. 

 

…

 

With their feet on solid ground again, the group wasted little time trying to find the green fairy that Hook had told them about. The Captain lead the way, followed closely by Snow and Charming. Emma had been keeping up with them, until she noticed that Regina had been lagging behind. This was unusual. She usually had such a fire under her ass that there could only be one explanation for her sluggish nature. Emma had seen how her eyes had fallen when Hook had brought up Tinkerbell. She didn’t know the history, but she knew that there had to be some bad blood between the two women.

  
Emma slowed her gait so that Regina would inevitably catch up with her, but Regina caught on that Emma was about to ambush her with some nosey talk that would probably involve her past and her feelings. “Go ahead, Miss Swan, I am going to take a breather.” Regina said as she sat down on a fallen log.

 

Sensing the deflection in Regina’s voice, Emma decided that she was just going to have to be blunt. “What the hell did you do to her?” Emma questioned. Regina looked up to meet her with the most pitiful eyes. They were filled with something that looked like regret. Emma had hardly seen that softness on her face before.

  
Regina sighed and slightly shook her head. “What I always do.” She responded. She didn’t know how to explain her self destructive ways to this woman who she had only begun to trust.

 

Emma felt so sorry for Regina, but she knew that Regina didn’t want her pity, so she tried to hide it from her eyes. She didn’t understand how someone so beautiful, powerful, and confident, someone who could accomplish anything she set her mind to, could hate herself so much. She pursed her lips, then said, “I’m sorry. I know that there is love in your heart. I’ve seen it.”

 

Regina scoffed at the younger woman’s kind words. She never could take a genuine compliment. “Most people just see me as a monster.” She muttered.

 

Emma had had her arms crossed in front of her, but they dropped to their sides when Regina spoke. She could tell by the tone that Regina had now started thinking of herself as a monster. Her heart broke for the woman. Emma knew about all the fucked up shit that she had done in the past, but Regina had changed. Emma could see that plainly. “You’re not a monster, just a product of your upbringing.” Emma said unthinkingly. 

 

Regina’s blood pressure spiked.This blonde woman knew nothing of her history except for what that damn story book had said, but that didn’t even paint the whole picture that was Regina’s tragic life. She felt the pity behind the words and her fists clenched into tight balls. “How DARE you.” She huffed at Emma.

 

Emma brought her hands up in surrender. “I’m not trying to insult you, but come on. Your mother’s true love was power, not her husband, not you, not even herself. She may have passed that on to you.” Emma bit her lip, knowing that she shouldn’t have finished that sentence.

 

The anger was showing in Regina’s face, her pupils had dilated and her cheeks flushed. She pointedly argued, “You know nothing of my mother. She just always wanted what was best for me.”

 

Emma treaded carefully as to not upset Regina any further. She took a steadying breath, then said, “That may be true, but perhaps her idea of what was best for you may have been different then your idea what was best for you? The chase of power just leaves a hole in your heart, but the pursuit of love can make your heart whole. At least, that is what they have told me since I found out who I really was..” Emma trailed off.

 

Things rarely went well in Regina’s life, and she was tired of getting hope speeches from the Charming family. With one lip slightly snarled Regina angrily questioned the younger woman, “Tell me, Savior, what do you know about love?”

 

Emma bit the inside of her bottom lip. The Queen did have her there. She had never truly experienced love, the kind where both people were head over heels and weren’t scared to proclaim it to each other. She did know what it was supposed to look like, though. Hesitantly, she answered, “Truthfully, not much. But, I’m learning. I’m learning to trust, to confide, share the burden of living in this world.” 

 

Emma walked behind Regina. She gently placed her hands on Regina’s shoulders, and began to rub them. When Regina didn’t stop her, she opened her mouth to speak. “The weight of the world can come down on you when you’re trying accomplish everything on your own.”  
  
Regina leaned into Emma‘s hands. It had been so long since another person had  touched her so gently, just trying to reassure her. She didn’t know what to make of this attention, but she had a knot in her shoulder, so she didn’t stop Emma. Plus, she knew how much Emma wanted to touch her, given the dream she had overheard the night before. 

  
Emma looked at the line of Regina’s neck. She had a strong urge to bite it, but she resisted. She delicately asked, “You aren’t always this way, were you, Regina?” Emma ran her hands on Regina’s back, down along her spine. She slowly kneaded the knots out of Regina’s toned muscles with her knuckles. They had never been affectionate with each other before, but something made Emma want to make Regina feel safe. Secure. Happy. 

 

Regina arched at the light touches that tickled her bones. With a small smile, she answered, “No, I used to be much more naïve.”  
  
Emma smiled too. “well, you know what they say, ignorance is bliss.” Regina let out a little chuckle. Emma kneaded Regina lower back with her knuckles, “For what it’s worth, I believe in you.” Regina felt her cheeks flush when these words sunk in. She was glad that she was facing away from the blonde. Emma leaned in to whisper in Regina’s ear, “Now what the hell did you do to her?”

 

Regina recounted the story of her missing out on her maybe true love. “Well, Miss Swan. It is a very long story, and one that you aren’t necessarily privileged to.” She turned and raised an eyebrow at the blonde, who had a steeled expression, defiant, and daring for the details. With no getting out of this in sight, Regina continued, “However, since you are being so damn insistent, I will try to paraphrase it down. Tinkerbell was a fairy, like Blue. For some reason, she saved me one night from falling to an almost certain death. Except, she thought I was trying to kill myself.” Regina scoffed, “As if I were that weak. Anyway, she had some fairy dust, and she thought that because I was a woman, the reason I must be so sad must be because I didn’t have a man in my life. She used that fairydust to find someone who she claimed to be my soulmate. She didn’t tell me that she had stolen the fairy dust. She left me at the door, and pointed to a man that I was supposedly fated to be with. I struggled for awhile with the decision, but ended up never walking through the door. I decided that I didn’t want a man to determine my happiness. I would find it on my own.” Regina straightened herself up and fixed her purple jacket. “Tinkerbell came back to find me later and ask how it went. I lied to her and said that it wasn’t a match and it didn’t work. She was disappointed. Then, she got in trouble because she stole the fairydust, which I hadn’t asked her to, and it was all for nothing.” Regina exhaled. She hadn’t realized how fast she had been talking. Emma continued to work the knots out of her back. She had been listening contently the entire time.

 

“So,” Emma started slowly, trying to absorb the information, “Do you think that he was your true love?” She asked, timidly.

 

Regina stared into the distance and thought for a beat. “Maybe he was,” she said. “But, I think that when I chose to not walk through that door, that fate changed. He and I will never be together.” Regina had never said those words out loud before. She had accepted it a while ago, but part of her still had hoped that her true love would be out there. Maybe they weren’t though. Or maybe even worse, what if the price of her magic was that she knew her true love, but could never be with them? Regina sighed. All she had wanted was her own happy ending.

 

Emma could feel Regina’s sadness and doubt. She slid her hands around her back in a way so that she was hugging the fierce woman from behind. She just wanted to reassure her that she cared. Regina didn’t slip away. Emma rested her face on Regina’s shoulder blade for a moment. “So Tinkerbell blames you for her exile?” She said.

 

“That and ruining her life, I imagine. She sacrificed everything for me and I didn’t even take a chance.” Regina replied.

 

“Well, I think it is about time you apologized to her. She is going to be the best bet for us to find our son in this nightmare of a jungle.” Emma suggested.

  
Regina had leaned into the hug for just a moment, and then stood up. She brush herself off, trying to get the dirt off of her bright purple mayoral suit jacket. The two mothers made eye contact, and Regina nodded, acknowledging that she would apologize for her brash behavior. With that, they were off in search of the best shot they had at finding their son; Tinkerbell, the disgraced green fairy.   



	6. Maybe Somebody I Could Listen To Myself, But I’m Not There, Yet

Operation Henry was coming along. They had arrived in Neverland, found Tinkerbell, and convinced her to help them rescue Henry. Prince Charming was going off with Captain Hook to find the sextant that would lead them to Pan’s camp. Snow White was doing target practice with her bow, so the mothers of Henry were left alone in the Neverland jungle.  
  
Regina saw Emma sitting on a fallen log, attempting to whittle a spear. She went up towards her, then rested against a tree with her arms crossed in front of her, “So… what now?” She questioned the Savior.

 

Emma looked dumbfounded. She had assumed that they were all just going to make themselves busy until the boys got back. She looked at Regina in the eyes and said, “Uhh… wait until they get back with the sextant?” 

 

Regina sighed in an obvious way that she was not satisfied with Emma’s answer. “That’s boring.” She said with a glint of mischief in her eye, “I’m going to have a look around.” Regina walked off in between some trees.  
  
“Wait!” Emma called out behind her as she slid her knife back into the protective sheath and started up behind her. 

 

Regina smirked, “Now it’s time to have some fun,” she thought to herself. 

 

“It’s dangerous out there, you shouldn’t go alone.” She offered gallantly. She was standing with her chest slightly puffed out, just like Henry did when he was trying to be brave. Regina smiled.

  
Batting her long black eyelashes and with a voice full of sass, she teased, “Oh, dear, I don’t have to worry,” Regina placed her hand on Emma’s arm and continued, “I’ve got the Savior to protect me.”  
  
When Regina touched her arm, Emma got that tingly warm feeling again. She remembered her dream, Regina closing in on her, sharing her breath, and Emma looked away, embarrassed. Her cheeks were slightly pink and she hoped Regina wouldn’t notice. “I should just let you go off…” Emma started.

  
Regina pouted, “Now where’s the fun in that?” She trailed her nails up Emma’s arm, watching her skin dimple underneath the pink lines. She turned on her heels, “I’m going to find some trouble to get into.” She said. She didn’t have to turn around to know that Emma was following her.

 

Emma’s heart raced and the blood rushed in her ears. Regina seemed to be.. flirty? The thought made her stomach squeeze into a tight ball. Had she known about Emma’s dream? Her cheeks were fully flushed with embarrassment. She kept her head down as she followed Regina, partially to hide her cheeks, and partially to keep herself from staring at Regina’s ass while they trekked through the foreign jungle.

  
The two walked among the trees for a bit, neither one of them saying much. After a while, they came upon a clearing. It was a beautiful mountain lake that shimmered turquoise. There was a fallen tree in the lake, and a mountain stream cascading over some rocks across the way of the water, indicating that it was the source to the lake. Looking at the gleaming water, Regina noticed the thin layer of sweat that was on her forehead.  
  
Regina wiped her brow. With a smile out of the corner of her mouth, she asked,  “Care for a dip?”  
  
Emma was shocked. She didn’t know what had gotten into Regina. “Seriously?” She questioned. “We know nothing about this water.”

  
Regina waved her hand and a purpley-blue stream of magic came out of it to coat the lake. “No booby traps here” Regina gave Emma the side-eye and thought “Let the games begin.”  Regina peeled her sweat soaked tank top off of her body. She had left the suit jacket at base camp. Emma watched as she first saw Regina‘s Venus dimples… Then her back… Then her strong shoulder muscles. Then Regina pulled the damp black tank off over her head, and her black hair fell nicely back on her shoulders. She threw the shirt on a rock, and turned toward Emma wearing just a black lace bra on top. “The water is fine,” she started, she could tell that she was having a certain effect on the blonde, “what are you, modest?” Regina smirked as she looked at Emma watching her. Regina unbuttoned her pants. She could see Emma biting the inside of her lip, trying not to show any emotion. Regina lightly sighed, “please…” and pulled her pants away.  
  
Emma’s heart was beating quickly. “Did she hear me? Why did she say that? Does she know? Why is she acting like this? Play cool, Emma.” She thought to herself in rapid succession.

 

Emma took a breath to steady herself against the onslaught of thoughts. She looked at Regina and said, “No, I’m not particularly modest. I just didn’t know that you could be impulsive like this. If memory serves me right, you seem to be cool and calculated. Never off the cuff like this.” Emma pulled off her pants.

  
Regina laughed, “All humans are impulsive. Some of us just have better control over it.” Regina walked to the end of the fallen log, and Emma watched as this fair skinned woman, with her black hair, and matching black undergarments, dazzled her in the sunlight.   
  
Regina could feel the stare coming from the blonde, taking in all of her exposed skin. “I know you’re watching me, Savior. Are you not too good at controlling your impulses?” Without waiting for a response, Regina dove into the water.  
  
Emma whisked off her top, and waded into the chilly water, until she was about hip deep. Regina finally surfaced for air. “I do just fine, thank you very much.” Emma finally responded. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, trying to hide the fact that her nipples were rock hard, even though she could have probably blamed it on how cold the water was.

  
Regina splashed Emma playfully, “Lighten up, I’m supposed to be the bad guy, right?” She had started this whole outing to just give Emma’s mind a break from the incessant worrying, but it didn’t seem to be working too well. 

  
Emma decided to float on her back, she looking up at the sun, letting it kiss her pale skin as she existed with nature. “Did you know that this place was here?” She finally asked.

  
Regina replied, “Neverland? Yes.” She stares at Emma’s gorgeous body, shimmering in the water, “The swimming hole? No. But, swimming and horseback riding were the only things that made me feel free as a child.” Regina swirled her fingers through the water. The water was the temperature where if you stayed still, it could get chilly, but when you moved through it, it was refreshing. 

 

Emma stood up and awkwardly walked through the water on her way towards the Queen. “Did you ever play the color game as a kid?” She quietly asked.  
  
Regina had a puzzled look on her face, she had obviously never heard of what Emma was talking about. “What’s the color game?” She responded.  
  
Emma chuckled. “It’s a game that children play. One person thinks of a color, and the other person has to guess it. If they are wrong, they get dunked under the water. When they get it right, they get flipped in the water. It is pretty fun if the person you are playing with isn’t trying to drown you, or cop a feel, like half of my foster brothers were always trying to do to me.”  
  
Regina answered looking down at the water, “I didn’t really grow up with a lot of other children around.”   


Emma swam over to Regina’s side, “Well, let’s connect with your inner child.” Emma scooped up Regina, holding her in her arms in the water, like a princess. This was the closest the two women had ever been. The feeling of their skin touching was electrifying. 

 

Regina looked at her skeptically. “Are you sure you’re not trying to cop a feel, Miss Swan?” She playfully teased. Emma had her arms wrapped around her thighs and her back, like a new bride, nowhere close to being off -limits. Still, Regina wanted to tease her.    
  


“You would know if i was,” Emma joked with a chuckle, “Now.. guess what color thinking of!” Emma said with excitement in her voice.  
  
Regina pursed her lips, then guessed, “Orange?”  
  
Emma dunked Regina in the water. Her dark hair swirled around her like the ink from a squid. Regina came back up, deflating the sphere of ink, and letting it drip down her head and face. She took a breath, and wiped her eyes, thankful that she hadn’t had any makeup on.  
  
Regina caught her breath, then looked Emma straight in her beautiful emeralds. “Pink?” She guessed. Emma dunked her under the chilly water again. The water was refreshing as it washed over her hair and face, but it wasn’t necessarily a comfortable temperature. It was tolerable if you were moving around or if you were cuddled up next to a cute blonde to share body heat. 

 

After resurfacing, Regina took a breath and knew which color to guess next. “Yellow?” She asked as she rubbed her eye. The Savior had a soft spot for that ugly car, so Regina guessed that she might have chosen that color. 

  
With a beaming smile, Emma announced, “Winner winner, chicken dinner!” Emma flipped Regina out of her arms, into the water. She twirled around, and stood up near Emma, smiling. The two women are standing face-to-face, about shoulder deep in the water. Emma was giggling. She had never seen Regina with her hair wet.  
  
Regina felt herself laughing, too. “I guess that was a little fun.” Regina put her hands on Emma’s hips as she looked at her.  
  
This made Emma’s skin crawl… in the good way. Regina moved her body forward… Emma’s thoughts were racing… “Is this real? Why do I feel this? What’s about to happen?” 

 

Regina wrapped your hands around Emma’s back, embracing her, and whispered in her ear, so close that her lips touched Emma’s ear with every word she said and sent goosebumps down Emma’s spine. “Thanks for believing in me, Miss Swan.” Regina turned, leaving the hug, and swam towards the shore. This was the most at ease that she had felt since Emma had showed up on her front porch with her son all that time ago. The more time she spent with her, the more she realized how much the blonde and her son had in common. She found the habits of Emma’s that were similar to Henry’s fairly endearing, which was a word that she would never had used to describe Emma Swan even up until a couple of months ago. 

  
Emma swam towards the shore, following the beautiful older woman’s path. This embrace confirmed it. She wanted to kiss Regina. She was disappointed when the hug hadn’t blossomed into something more. She didn’t know why, what had changed, but she wanted her. She had only been with a woman once before, when she was a teenager. Was this the same? Just looking for comfort and another person who is near? Or is this something new? “I guess only time will tell,“ She thought to herself. 

 

Regina got out so that she could dive in again. She loved the way the water would rush around her body as she cut through it. Her feet on the soft moss, she didn’t turn back as she asked, “Have you ever gone skinny dipping, Miss Swan?”

 

Emma choked on her own spit. That was not what she was thinking was going to be coming out of Regina’s mouth. “Um… maybe when I was younger? All of the lakes in Minnesota are cold, though. By the time they warm up in the summer, there is so much algae and seaweed, that they aren’t really fun to swim in. Why?” She asked. As the last word came out of her throat, Regina took a step onto the log, and unsnapped her bra and let it fall to the ground, exposing her brilliantly muscled back. Emma’s jaw dropped. The words got caught in her throat.

 

“I hope this is ok,” Regina teased as she hooked her thumb around her black panties and obviously not caring what Emma thought about it, “I’m not above apologies, but I don’t ask permission.” With a swoop of her hand, her panties dropped, landing on the mossy log that was jutting out of the alpine lake. Emma couldn’t move as she tried to comprehend the completely naked Regina in front of her. The Queen continued, “I have a lot of imperfections, but I don’t put my ambition in them,” she said as she dove in for a second time.

 

Watching Regina jump in, Emma gasped as she caught a glimpse of supple side boob. She quickly removed her undergarments because she didn’t want Regina to think that she was a stick in the mud. She tossed them on the shore. It was oddly freeing to swim without the constraints of clothes, Emma noticed. The water rushed around her legs in a way she had never felt before. She understood now why swimming made Regina feel so free. 

 

Regina surfaced and noticed there were no longer straps on Emma’s shoulders. “It’s very freeing, isn’t it, Miss Swan?” She didn’t wait for a response. “When I was Queen, I exclusively swam nude. It’s the only way to truly connect with the water.”

 

“It is nice,” Emma said, trying to not look at Regina, who was back stroking along the length of the small lake.

 

“Don’t feel like you can’t look, dear,” Regina offered, “It’s nothing you haven’t seen before,” she finished.

 

Except is was something that she hadn’t seen before. She had never seen Regina naked, except for maybe when she imagined her so. She didn’t want to look because she knew it would haunt her wet dreams for months to come.

 

Regina seemed to know this, too. When Emma didn’t take the bait, she sighed. “I figured we should let our undergarments dry in the sun before we had to hike back in them,” she offered. 

 

“I guess you’re right.” Emma agreed, “Wouldn’t want to get a rash or something.” Emma treaded water in the deepest part of the lake. She tried to keep her mind occupied on everything except the fact that she was naked with Regina. She didn’t want to risk getting wetter. 

 

They swam laps around the lake for a while before they noticed the length of the shadows on the trees getting longer. As much as she didn’t want to go back to rejoin society, she knew that they would be screwed if they didn’t make it back before nightfall. She turned onto her stomach and swam towards the shore again. “It’s getting late. We should probably dry off and head back.”  
  
Regina reluctantly agreed, “Yes, I guess you’re right…” She didn’t want this moment to end, but she also was anxious to get her clothes back on before she tried to do something foolish, something that she may regret later. It was all too tempting to give into Miss Swan’s desires. She knew it would happen, but didn’t want to think about the implications of it all. 

 

They got dressed and headed back to the group. Emma followed Regina the whole way back, while she tried not to be obvious that she was watching the curves on Regina’s body. Emma was completely engrossed in the beautiful way that the Queen moved. Her hips rolled with every step, and Emma had to restrain herself from pushing her up onto every thick tree that they passed. She had caught a glimpse of her hard dark nipple and it would not leave her mind. 


	7. Wasted Youth Don’t Count The Cost Anymore

Emma and Regina had returned to base camp before Snow and the boys had. Their hair had dried on the hike back, so there was no evidence of their little water hole rendezvous. By the time Hook and Charming made it back, it was dark out. They recounted a fabulous tale of how Hook had saved her father’s life and how there wasn’t really a sextant. While she was happy that her father had survived, Emma was a little annoyed that they had wasted a whole day on something that had not gotten them any closer to saving her son. 

 

Hook offered everybody a swig from his flask to celebrate their accomplishment that day. They all partook, except for Her Highness, who thought herself too good to drink from a pirate’s flask. As much as Emma didn’t want to share anything with the pirate, she really needed a drink, so she indulged in a whole mouthful. Her thoughts were still reeling from her encounter with Regina earlier that day.

 

Emma was so lost in processing her thoughts and feelings from earlier that day that she hadn’t realized that everyone else had dispersed, leaving her alone with the gloating pirate. She raised an eyebrow at him and questioned, “You really save his life?”

 

Hook feigned a shocked expression, “That surprise you?” He teased.

 

Emma rolled her eyes at his words that he probably thought were so charming. “Well, you and David aren't exactly…” she inhaled deeply, “How do you say it?” She paused, trying to muster up her best British accent, “..Mates.”

 

“Doesn't mean I'd leave your father to perish on this island.” Hook said, trying his best to be charming, but still coming off as an egotistical prick.

 

“Thank you.” Emma replied with a snarky attitude, as she tried not to roll her eyes. She had met plenty of men like him before; the type who thought that they were God’s gift to women, and after a certain amount of “noble” actions, expected women to be throwing themselves at him. It made her sick to think about the misogyny of it all, but some small part of her enjoyed the way she could affect him.

 

“Um... Well, perhaps gratitude is in order now.” Hook stammered as he put his finger on his lips to indicate that he wants a kiss from her.

  
No longer able to conceal it, Emma rolled her eyes blatantly in front of her pursuer, “Yeah. That's what the "thank you" was for.” Emma knew that he wanted her. He had been anything but subtle. She was still hot and bothered by being so close to Regina, so she debated giving him a little tease.   
  
Hook’s eyes dropped, as he tried to make himself look quite pitiful. “Mm. That all your father's life is worth to you?” He pouted his lower lip.   
  
Emma should have been less surprised by how he thought he could trade in his gold star in daddy-saving for access to her body, but it had taken her off guard. The attention that he so willingly gave her was such a sharp contrast from the attention she had to carve out of Regina, and she felt herself giving in, if only for that moment. She batted her eyelashes and flirted, “Please. You couldn't handle it.” Against her better judgement, Emma leaned in a little bit, to close the space in between them.

 

Hook steadied his breath as to not give away how excited he was that he may have actually worn the Savior down. He lowered his voice to a whisper, and tried to match her flirty tone. “Perhaps you're the one who couldn't handle it.” He managed.

  
The space between them had gotten incredibly smaller. With a huff, Emma decided; fuck it, I’m horny, and the touch of another person would be nice. Emma pulled Hook into the kiss, which quickly turned heated and very passionate, to which he returned. They continued to kiss for a few moments, before Emma pulled back, her forehead still resting against his and clinging to the lapels of his jacket. “Fuck,” she huffed out. She thought to herself, “What the fuck did I just do?”    
  
Hook stared at her, breathless and stunned. “That was, um…” He started, still panting slightly.    
  
Emma quickly collected her composure and finished his sentence for him, “A one time thing.” She pulled back and began to walk away. “Don't follow me. Wait five minutes. Go get some firewood or something.” She called over her shoulder, not giving Hook the time of day. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!!” Emma thought to herself. “How do I always put myself into these situations?” She bit her lip and new that she had made a mistake. 

 

Hook called back to her, “As you wish.” Once Emma was out of sight, he touched his lips and breathed deeply, still processing that he had finally convinced Emma to kiss him.   
  


…

  
Emma walked with half a smirk on her face. On one hand, she was quite pleased with herself. That kiss was nice. It was nice to feel wanted. But, men are so easy. The other hand was full of questions and doubt about the can of worms she had just opened by giving into Hook. She had to remember how she used him to fill her desires when it came to Regina. Regina was stronger than Emma knew, and she was always purposely fucking with Emma’s head. Now that she had that animalistic urges out of her system, she could focus on what was really important; saving Henry.   
  


She walked through the forest and gathered some sticks in a bundle to make it look like she was being more useful than she really was. The crunching of the leaves and twigs beneath her feet reminded her of how she used to explore as a kid. She had never been scared when she was younger. She was always positive that things would work out in her favor, that she would never get lost. Now, she wasn’t so sure. They needed to have a solid plan to get Henry back from Pan before he was lost forever. She was so entrenched in her own thoughts that she didn’t notice Regina leaning up against a tree about forty paces in front of her.

 

“Working hard or hardly working?” Regina teased as she saw the measly amount of firewood that the Savior had brought back.

 

Spooked, Emma jumped at the sound of her voice, which caused her to drop all of the wood onto the ground. “Well, I was doing okay until you decided to scare the shit out of me.” She huffed, as she collected the sticks back up. She hadn’t realized that she had already circled back to camp.

 

Regina let out something between a scoff and a laugh, “I was just standing here, Savior, you were the one so oblivious to your surroundings that you were spooked by a stationary person. I sincerely hope that you will sharpen your skills before we try to rescue Henry.” She said, with her arms crossed in front of her and her weight against the tree.

 

Emma rolled her eyes like an indignant teenager. Regina always knew how to push her buttons. “I was actually just trying to come up with a plan before you barged in.” She said with heat in her throat.

 

“You’re an idiot, Miss Swan.” Regina let slip through her sly smirk. 

 

“And now you’re insulting me,” Emma retorted.

 

“No, I’m just stating a fact.” Regina replied. “Do you not think that I didn’t see what went down between you and Lover Boy just a minute ago?” She held eye contact with Emma, holding onto the power she had over her.

 

“I- uh- he- uh..” Emma stammered. There was no justification, though, because they both knew that Emma had acted on impulse. 

 

Regina waved her had to show that she wasn’t looking for an explanation, “It’s whatever, you do what you want, Miss Swan. You always have. I just hope that your little side expedition won’t take your mind off of the main objective here, you know, saving our son?” 

 

“It’s not what it seems. I’m not starting a relationship with him. I just. I dunno. He was being charming, and it was nice to be touched.” Emma meekly admitted.

 

“So.. cocky and misogynistic is charming to you? I’ll have to remember that.” Regina said in response.

 

Emma didn’t know why she had phrased it like that but she was going to over analyze that line in her head for the next couple of hours, she knew it. “Just..” Emma started, “Please don’t tell anybody else.” She looked at Regina like a child who had broken something and didn’t want to get in trouble.

 

Straightening her posture, Regina agreed. “Alright, Miss Swan. I won’t mention your torrid love affair as long as you can help me figure out a plan to save Henry from the devil incarnate.”

 

“Deal.” Said Emma. The two sat together on the ground. Emma pulled the map out of her pocket and straightened it out in front of them. Over the past couple of days, Pan had been moving Henry all around the island, sending them on a wild goose chase. For the past half day, though, she had noticed that they were at Skull Rock, and hadn’t moved. She conveyed this information to Regina.

 

“That doesn’t sound good,” Regina offered as she pulled in air through her teeth. “If he has slowed down on moving him, that means he either convinced him that he is a Lost Boy, or that he has a plan for him, and he is starting it up.”

 

“Do you know much about this Skull Rock?” Emma questioned.

 

“Not much.” Regina said, disappointed, “Although, I read once that it is where all of the magic in Neverland originates.” Emma looked at her very seriously. “So,” Regina continued, “That could either help or hurt us. I am very proficient in magic, and it would surely make my powers stronger, but for you, well..” She paused, “It could be unpredictable.” She finished.

 

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes.” Emma said. She had always heard about what people would do for their children, but this was when she finally comprehended than being a mama bear meant the willingness to rip any threat apart.

 

“Alright. We will set off for Skull Rock. Once we arrive, I am sure that Pan will have some sort of force field around it, so we will need to break through that.” Regina started. “I’m not quite sure what to expect, but it would be something that allowed only him to come in and out.”

 

“What makes him different is that he is separated from his shadow.” Emma said, matter-of-factly. She felt a proud beam in her chest when Regina smiled at her. 

 

“Right. So, when we get there, I will cast an Eclipse Spell, have you heard of it?” Emma shook her head at the brunette. “It will make it so that the whole world will be dark, thus there will be no shadows. We should be able to slip past his defenses unnoticed. Once we are in, I will distract Pan with some fire balls and engage him in a magic fight.” Regina looked at Emma, and tried to convey how serious her next sentence was, “While I have him distracted, you must rescue Henry and get him to safety. We do not know what Pan is capable of.”

 

“Alright, Boss,” Emma said with a wink as she scrunched up the map. Her heart was pounding in her ears. Having a plan made it all seem so real. All she wanted to do was to save her son and go back to their quiet life in Storybrooke. “Should we invite the others or are we doing this Black Ops?” Emma asked.

 

Regina thought for a moment. Her lips were pushed together and her eyes were raised as if she were trying to see her own thoughts. “We might as well have all of the back up we can for when we come out of the cavern,” Regina said, “But I don’t think that it is wise to bring anybody without magic inside of it. We don’t want anybody getting hurt.” 

 

Emma agreed, “Let’s rally the troops, then.”

 

The two mothers walked back towards the small camp that they had made for the night. They explained the new information that they had deduced to the rest of the group over a pot of rabbit and wild ramp stew that Snow had somehow whipped together. When they had been through every detail, and everybody had gotten their fill, they decided to wait until day break to head out to Skull Rock to finally save the boy with the heart of the truest believer.

 

Hook had brought a hammock from the Jolly Roger and strung it between two trees on the edge of their camp. “After all those years on a ship, it’s hard for me to fall asleep without the swaying,” he explained to Charming. He agreed that it made sense and added some logs to the fire to keep them warm throughout the night. 

 

The Jolly Roger had only been equipped with two tents, so obviously, one was going to be for Snow and Charming. Regina debated asking for a hammock before but resolved that if she had spent the night in the cabin with Emma, a tent couldn’t be too much worse. As long as she didn’t thrash around too much. Regina nearly laid out the sleeping bags on opposite ends of the tent while Emma was outside brushing her teeth.

 

Regina had already gotten ready for bed and was taking off her over garments when the zipper slowly started to pull against the grain. She wasn’t wearing pants, only her underwear, so she slid her legs into the sleeping bag before Emma had the flap completely open. She didn’t want to get her all hot and bothered before their big day tomorrow. 

 

Emma peaked her head inside the small tent, “Permission to enter, Your Majesty?” She asked with a chuckle. 

 

“Permission granted,” Regina offered with a wave of her hand, “That’s your side of the tent.” She explained. 

 

“What? No line drawn down the middle with threats if I cross it?” Emma snorted, “Kids used to do that shit in foster homes. I guess when nothing is really yours, you make control somehow.”

 

“You think this is me being controlling?” Regina asked with a raised eyebrow. 

 

“Oh this is nothing,” Emma said. “You don’t need to worry, Boss. I know who’s in charge,” Emma finished as she crawled into her respective sleeping bag. She shimmied off her jeans and laid on her back, looking up. “Goodnight, Regina.”

 

“Good night, Miss Swan.” Regina answered. Without another word, they both quickly slipped into a deep sleep. 

 

…

 

Some time later, Regina was again awoken by the thrashing of the blonde. “Jesus Christ.” She thought to herself. She flipped over to look at the disturbance. Emma’s brow was tightly knit. Her face was scrunched up. Regina knew immediately that this dream was different than the one that she had the other night. With the light of the moon dimly lighting their tent, she noticed a shimmering stream coming from the corner of the blonde’s eye. 

 

“No.. no.. Henry!!” The blonde cried in her sleep. 

 

This broke Regina’s heart. She couldn’t keep letting her suffer. She scooted closer to Emma and grabbed her shoulder. Shaking her slightly, Regina whispered, “Emma… Emma, please..”

 

Emma screamed and threw her eyes wide open. “Henry!” She called out. She was sobbing now. Her chest shook as the breaths quickly came. 

 

“Emma.. Emma, it’s okay.” Regina offered. “It’s me. I’m here. Emma.”

 

Emma’s eyes looked around wildly, trying to get her bearings back. When she remembered where she was, she tried to slow her breathing. Regina was calmly petting the angel hairs away from her forehead. Emma wasn’t used to being soothed, especially from Regina, but the gesture was reassuring. 

 

“It’s okay, Emma. You’re safe.” Regina offered as she wiped a tear from her cheek. Regina thought about how much Emma looked like Henry right then. So small and so scared. Before she had put him in therapy with Archie, Henry was having a lot of nightmares. He had an overactive imagination and would dream about the shadows from the trees coming alive and trying to take him. Regina would soothe him every time it happened, just like she was with Emma. It got so bad, though, that he was asking to sleep in her bed every night. While it was nice to feel needed like that, something she hadn’t felt since Henry could walk and talk on his own, Regina had known that was the point when she needed to ask for some help. Now, seeing Emma like this, it was breaking her heart. 

 

“It was awful.” Emma started, “it was like I was reliving the whole day that they took him. What if we can’t get him back, Regina? What if he is a lost boy?” The tears started welling up again in her eyes. 

 

“Henry knows we love him, even if Pan has tricked him into thinking other things are important.” Regina affirmed, “we will get him back, Emma.”

 

Emma sniffled. The dream had felt so real. It had been awhile since she was that scared. When she was young and had nightmares, nobody ever soothed her. Although it was out of character, Emma thoroughly appreciated that Regina was showing her softer side right then. 

 

“Do you mind holding me?” Emma asked very meekly and quietly. “It was just so real.”

 

“Of course not,” Regina said. She laid down on her back and let Emma scoot up near her. Emma rested her little blonde head on her shoulder and timidly wrapped her arm around Regina’s middle. Regina interlocked her fingers into themselves around the small blonde. 

 

Emma shivered and Regina pulled her closer. “It was so scary. I watched him get taken.” Her bottom lip trembled. 

 

“I know it was scary, but it was just a dream.” Regina reassured. “We are going to get him back tomorrow, dear. Then there will be no more worrying.” Regina squeezed a little bit because she was pretty sure that would be when someone would give a hug. 

 

“I know, you’re right,” Emma said with a big yawn. She could hear Regina’s heart under her ear on her chest. “Thank you,” she said with another yawn. Her head rose and fell with the Queen’s breath. 

 

“No problem, dear,” Regina said as she stroked Emma’s hair. She reminded her so much of Henry. She was ready to get their son back. To get their lives back. Emma quickly fell asleep on Regina’s chest. Although Regina usually didn’t sleep on her back, Emma was looking too precious to move from her. She paced her breathes with the sleeping beauty’s and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep as well, cozied up right in the Savior’s arms. 


	8. All Things Must Pass I Guess

The brightness of the sun illuminated their tent quicker than they could have imagined. Emma’s nightmare must have occurred closer to dawn than either of them had realized. Emma woke up first, still cuddling with Regina. They hadn’t moved since they had fallen back asleep. She blushed when she thought about how pitiful she was during the night. She gave Regina a little squeeze, then slid out of her arms. “Thank you,” she whispered as she put on her jeans to go stir the fire up for breakfast. 

 

Regina had woken up when Emma did, but had pretended to be asleep to see what the Savior would do. When she heard the zipper slide it’s way shut again, she stretched out her arms and legs. Today was the day that they would get their son back. She smiled and then focused all of her energy on to that mantra as she got herself dressed. 

 

By the time she had gotten decent, Emma scrambling had woken the rest of the crew up. She was heating up the leftover stew before the night before. Once it was warm enough to eat again, everybody dug in. The spices that Snow had found had meddled nicely overnight and the stew was a delicious breakfast compared to their other option of foraging berries. They ate mostly in silence while Regina went over the plan for a final time. Once everyone had had their fill, they broke down camp, and started on their way. 

 

…

 

As they made their way across Neverland, Regina’s mind raced over about a million things, but one image in particular kept on flashing in front of her mind’s eye; the one of Hook kissing Emma. She curled her lip as she thought about how Emma had smiled right before it happened, how she had held on to his lapels like she was about to float away, how pleased Hook looked with himself afterwards as her touched his fingertips to his lips. It made her sick. Not because she was jealous, she told herself, but because Emma had stooped so low as to get cozy with a do nothing pirate?! “Stupid girl..” She thought to herself as they trekked along the landscape. Regina tucked some hair behind her ear and looked to the sky. She was determined to focus on the only thing that really mattered; saving Henry.

 

The group had made it Skull Rock from across Neverland, finally ending their wild goose chase. Along the way, they had found Neal, to Regina’s disappointment. She hated competing with one of Henry’s biological parents, let alone, two. She knew he just wanted to help, though, so she tried not to make too big of a fuss. Before they entered the cavern, Regina cast her Eclipse Spell, and the whole island went dark. She smiled as she thought about this trick because while it may have been apparent to anyone outside, Pan wouldn’t be able to tell that it was pitch black out from inside his lair. The two mothers crossed the barrier with the intent of saving their son. They didn’t notice that Neal had slipped through the fray after them, despite the protests of Snow and Charming. Hook new better than to take on Peter Pan in his own element, so he convinced Henry’s grandparents that it really was in their best interests to have the women with magic take care of him. 

 

After Emma and Regina snuck in, however, they realized that they were too late. Peter Pan had already convinced Henry that only he could save magic, by giving him his heart. The Heart of the Truest Believer. He had lied to the boy and told him by doing this that he would live forever, but in fact, the moment Henry took out his own heart, he started to become weaker. Now that Peter Pan had it, Henry was in even worse trouble than he was before. He could actually die. 

 

Regina held back tears as she knelt over the body of her son. He looked so small when he was laying on the floor like that. It reminded her of when he was a baby and she would lay him on a blanket and he would kick around and shake a rattle until he would fall asleep. Only now, he didn’t look asleep. He looked so much worse than sleep. She knew she had to do something to help him. Her anger with Pan was boiling inside of her and she was ready to channel that into some magic when she felt a presence behind her.

 

“What can I do?” Said Emma, with a confused and concerned expression on her face. She placed a hand on Regina’s shoulder.

 

Regina shrugged. “Have you ever cast a preservation spell?” She asked.

 

“No,” Emma admitted. “But, you have taught me magic before, why don’t you teach me again?”

 

“Maybe because I don’t have time for this.” Regina said sarcastically. 

 

“Come on, Your Majesty, please teach me.” Emma begged.

 

“Alright.” Regina agreed with a huff. “Sit opposite of me.” She instructed. 

 

Emma crossed over and knelt on the other side of Henry. Her ankles were touching the ground and she was sitting on her heels. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and then made eye contact with Regina. With a slight nod of her head, she signaled that she was ready to begin.

 

Regina grabbed her wrists lightly and hovered her hands a couple inches above Henry’s stomach. The minute that her fingers clasped around Emma’s small wrists, a jolt went through Regina. She got goosebumps all up and down her body, causing the little hairs on her arms and the back of her neck to stand up. She bit the inside of her lower lip, trying to compose herself. There was an electricity around them and she was struggling hard to deny it.

 

Emma felt it too. The light way that Regina’s hands had grabbed hers had made her heart start pounding in her ears. She wanted to pull Regina closer like the other side of a magnet, but she found herself frozen in place.

 

“Alright, Miss Swan,” Regina steadied herself, “Just imagine keeping Henry perfectly still, forever like this. Keep that mantra in your head, repeating over and over, while you move your hands up and down him body. When the spell is complete, we will see a momentary silver glow around him. I’m going to keep my hands on yours and add my magic to yours to help you channel the Magic in your body and harvest it for Henry.”

 

Emma tried to stifle a smile at the thought that Regina was actually helping her, and not in a sarcastic way. Together, they cloaked their son’s body in a preservation spell that would keep it exactly how it had been until they could return his heart to him. The magic flowed out of them as if it were the most natural thing in the world. They worked in unison, for once, in order to save their son. Once the silver aura cloaked their son, signaling that they were finished, Emma looked up at Regina with a grin on her face, “We did it!” She said excitedly.

 

“Not even close, Savior. We just bought ourselves some time.” Regina replied. She was never one for taking pride in the small victories. Regina always had her eye on the big picture; regals had a hundred year plan, while fools only thought about the day. “This preservation spell can keep him in this condition for a while longer. Buy us time to get to Pan.” She repeated, the words that came out of her mouth obviously two steps behind what her brain was thinking.

 

Emma was frustrated. She thought that this was going to be the end of it all, but of course not. When had anything been fucking easy for her? Never. Now, she had her son’s body, but not his heart. His perfect little heart, so  willing to believe, so willing to see the good, that he had been blinded from the bad. She loved him for his heart and she was going to get it back, even if it killed her.

 

There was a shuffling noise from behind her. In the midst of all the drama that had unfolded, Emma had forgotten that Neal was still with them. He was forgettable when Regina was around. She turned her head over her shoulder to look at him. “You were a Lost Boy. Any idea where he went?”

 

Neal was shocked that Emma was asking him for advice. He knew he had blown it with her, but he was trying to do right by his son; something his father never did. He wanted Henry to know that he would never stop looking for him. He didn’t want his son to feel the pangs of abandonment like he did while growing up. “Well, I, I know where he lived. Where his compound..” he started, but was cut off.   
  
“That's idiotic. We all know that.” Regina started over Neal, whom she had always thought was a bit of a fool. “Think he's stupid enough to go back? Please”

 

Emma shot a glare at Regina. She always lashed out at other people when she wanted to blame herself the most. “Enough.” She hushed at Regina before turning her attention to their unwelcome visitor, “Neal, please leave.” She instructed

 

Neal walked outside, with his head hung low. He left the two women and Henry’s body behind. He knew that he was going to have to fight to save his son, but he didn’t realize that it was going to be with his mother AND his  other mother.

 

As soon as she could no longer see the back of his head, Regina snapped back at Emma, “Don't tell me what's enough. My son is dying!”

 

Whenever Regina said “my” in regards to Henry, a pang of guilt swirled in Emma’s chest. For a decade, Henry had been just hers. She was making up for lost time, and hoped that Regina would be receptive towards that. “Our son. So, yes, I know how you feel.” Emma said, feeling a prick of sadness in her chest. 

  
Regina drew in a breath and tried not to let on how much turmoil was brewing inside of her. She felt guilty for Henry going missing in the first place. Maybe, if she had kept a better eye on him, it never would have happened. “You have no idea what I feel!” Regina sputtered. “You have your parents. You have this-” Regina gestured at where Neal left the cave, “-person; a pirate who pines for you. You have everything and yet you claim to know what I feel?” Regina’s composure was waning and her voice was starting to break. “All I have is Henry and I'm not about to lose him because he is everything.” She clutched onto his jacket and let out a small sob as she looked at his sweet little face.    
  


Emma knelt down next to her son and his other mother. “You're right. I don't know what you feel. But you’re wrong about only having him, you have me, too.” Emma lifted Regina’s chin so that they could make eye contact, then she put her hand on the side of her face, caressing Regina’s cheek. “I care about you, Regina. You’re my son’s mother, too. So what do you want to do? You want to run the show? Run it. How do we save Henry?”

 

Regina brushed away her tears with the back of her hand and quietly responded, “I- I don’t know.”    
  


Emma was scared because Regina seldom admitted when she didn’t know what to do. She started, “Even if we can find Pan, he was probably powerful before without Henry's heart. I-I don't know if we can hurt him.”

 

Regina looked down, Emma had a point. As she thought about it, though, she noticed Emma’s sword.  “Yes, we can. Look.” Regina pointed to the blood on the weapon. “You nicked him. He can bleed. We can hurt him. And if we can hurt him, we can kill him.” Regina stood up and held Emma’s hand, and looked her in the eye. “And we will. I promise you that.” She finished, a blaze ignited in her eyes. Regina had no qualms about killing people who deserved it. All this bullshit about “Heroes don’t kill,” never really resonated with her. Sometime, you have to kill someone. Sometimes, they will never stop until you make them stop forever. Regina didn’t want to be a villain anymore, but maybe she was more of an anti-hero. She did good in unconventional ways.   
  
Emma and Regina embraced, with Emma resting her head on Regina’s shoulder. “I believe in you, Regina.” Emma said softly. Emma grabbed Regina’s upper arms while Regina still had her hands around Emma’s waist. Emma looked in Regina’s eyes and matched that determined glare. “What’s next?” Questioned the blonde.

 

“We have to find Pan.” Regina said, throwing her arms out, and breaking the embrace.

 

“How do you suppose we do that? It’s not like I have the Marauder's Map and can just follow his footsteps?!” Emma spoke quickly.

 

“You have something better than that, Emma.” Regina said with taunt in her voice.

 

“And what’s that?!” She responded.

 

“Magic!” She rang out, producing two fireballs with her hands and a wild look in her eye.

 

“So, we are just going to burn this motherfucker down until we find him?” Emma asked.

 

“No, sorry,” Regina put out the fireballs with the turn of her wrists, “I just got excited.” Regina grabbed Emma’s elbow and looked her in the eye, “I’m going to teach you how to do a locator spell.”

 

“Alright, what do I need to do?” Said Emma.

 

“Get his flannel. We need something that belongs to Henry so that it will reunite us with his heart, and that should be big enough.” Regina instructed.

 

Together, the mothers lifted Henry to a sitting position, and removed the flannel from his body. Regina held it close to her chest for a minute. It smelled like him. A mother never forgets the smell of her baby. She hoped that this would work. They didn’t have anything of Pan’s to track him with, but surely, they could still find Henry’s heart.   
  


 

“Alright, Miss Swan. Come over here and hold this in your hands.” Regina said. 

 

Emma grabbed the flannel from Regina and held it out in front of her. She could have cried looking at it, her little boy was turning into a man, or at least would be, if they could get his heart back. She stared at the dark fabric in her hands. 

 

“Think about what you want to find and how this object will lead you there.” Regina instructed. She watched Emma squint her eyes at the fabric, but nothing happened. “Focus.” She said. “Make sure all of your energy is honed in on producing the magic to find Henry.”

 

Emma furrowed her brow and tried to follow Regina’s instructions. Nothing was happening. She could feel some magic stirring inside of her but it was hard to build it up and control it. 

 

Regina sighed. Emma was in such denial about herself that she hardly could control her magic. “Let me help you,” she said as she crossed behind Emma. She slid her body behind the blonde’s. Her breasts, stomach, and pelvis were pressed upon Emma’s back as she rested her chin on Emma’s shoulder, looking over it and down at the cloth. Regina slid her fingers down Emma’s forearms, over the back of her hands, and clasped down around the backs of Emma’s. Regina was like a sleeve around her, guiding her on exactly what to do. 

 

The feeling of Regina right behind her made Emma’s head spin. She could feel Regina’s breath on her neck and it made her skin prickle up. The feeling of the mayor’s skin on hers made her heart quicken and her thoughts race. She reminded herself to pay attention and to play it cool. 

 

Regina took a deep breath to prepare herself to cast the locator spell. She was overwhelmed with the smell of eucalyptus and lemon oil from Emma’s hippie shampoo bar that she had packed. Regina had made fun of her for it earlier, but now, standing so close, she could understand why Emma liked it. She forced herself to focus on the shirt instead of the woman in front of her. She felt the magic flowing out of her hands, through Emma’s small fingers, and into the shirt. “Just think about what we are trying to accomplish,” she guided the blonde. 

 

The magic coming out of Regina’s hands was warm and loving. Emma channeled it into the shirt. She ever so slightly leaned into Regina, forcing their bodies closer together. Their magic strengthened. Within moments, the flannel raised up out of their fingertips, and hovered in front of them. “It worked!” Emma said, turning around to hug Regina. 

 

Regina stood there and accepted the hug. Her arms were pinned down by her sides and Emma had a bright beautiful smile that Regina hadn’t seen in a while. The shirt started drifting out of the front of the cave. “We better follow it,” Regina said. 

 

As they left the cave, they instructed Neal to bring Henry’s body back to the Jolly Roger and to wait with everybody on there for them to come back. Despite protests of letting the two women go off into the jungle alone, they quickly convinced him, and followed Henry’s shirt to his heart. 

 

They walked over roots and under branches covered in moss. Neverland was the kind of place where you could easily think you were stuck in a nightmare, just running around being chased by something that you can’t see. Neither of the women were afraid, though, they just had their innate maternal instincts driving them to save their son. 

 

The shirt that they were following started to slow down in pace. Regina held a finger to her lips to indicate that they should be as quiet as possible. They reached a bend in the path they were following, and the shirt dropped to the ground. “This must be it,” Emma thought to herself. She steeled herself for a confrontation with Pan, but when they made it around the bend; nothing.

 

There was just a small box sitting on the ground. It was old and worn, and something about it gave off the impression that it was very valuable in some way. Emma reached down to pick it up. “Don’t!” Regina cried, “It could be a trap!” But, it was too late. Emma had grabbed the box and was paralyzed in her crouching position.

 

“I didn’t know if such a simple rouse would work on a Queen and a Princess, but look at that.” A voice projected around them. It continued, “Some people really have more dollars than sense.” The menacing voice said from above them. Peter Pan jumped down from the top of his Thinking Tree.

 

“I don’t know what you have done to her, but you will regret it. You will rue the day you decided to fuck with my family.” Regina said through gritted teeth. With a swift flick of her wrist, a glowing fireball appeared. With determination, she threw it at Pan.

 

“Be careful, now. I have got your son’s heart in me. You wouldn’t want to hurt that would, you?” He taunted. “Or I guess, you could just join my son here in Pandora’s Box..” he gestured at the small box frozen in Emma’s hand. 

 

“Rumple is your son? Of fucking course. Fate is a tricky bitch.” Regina said, with another fireball in her hand. “Seems like I will just have to get creative.”

 

Emma watched the two with just her eyes. Being conscious and paralyzed was absolutely terrifying. She could feel the grip of the magic freezing her in place. Maybe she could break through this if she concentrated hard enough, she thought. It was as if a giant snake had coiled itself around her being and was squeezing her into a statue. She fought it. There were ebbs and flows to this magic. When she could feel the tide going out, she concentrated on breaking the binds. After several minutes of this, she could start to wiggle her toes, and then her fingers. She hoped Regina could keep Pan’s attention long enough where he wouldn’t notice Emma breaking free slowly but surely in front of him.

 

“You don’t scare me.” Taunted Pan. “I’ve got this whole island on my side. The air, the ground, the trees? They all bow down to me.” Pan gave a malicious grin. 

 

Just when he said that, a group of vines came alive and started snaking their way around Regina, anchoring her into the soil where she stood. She fought it off as best as she could, but it was fast. Faster than the fireballs she had to conjure to deflect it. Within moments, she was completely bound in place by the thick vines. She struggled against them, but that only made them tighten harder around her wrists.

 

“Good luck,” Pan started, “Those vines are made to trap people with regrets. Seeing how you have gotten yourself into this situation, I’m presuming that you have a lot of regrets, Your Majesty. You have killed those that you were supposed to love. You have loved those who were better off dead. Everything you touch turns to poison, Regina. Can’t you see?”

 

A fire was burning in Regina. She wouldn’t let anybody talk to her that way. She looked down at Emma, who was still frozen, holding the box at her fingertips. It was not going to end this way. With a devilish smirk, she said, “I have been as bad as good girls get, but I don’t regret anything, just yet.” As she let the last word cut off of her tongue, she pulled her arms free of the vine. The aggressive maneuver made the vine shrink back and pull away from her body. With a swift motion, Regina reached into her pocket, grabbed something, and blew it in Pan’s face.

 

He didn’t even have time to react. As soon as the powder left Regina’s palm, he could feel his eyes getting heavy and his knees buckling. With a satisfying thud, Pan crashed to the ground. The poppies had completely taken over his consciousness. He was no better than a street junkie now, slumped in a pile in the walkway. 

 

Regina ran over to Emma. “The squid ink should be wearing off soon, you are pretty powerful.” Emma looked up at Regina. Even though she couldn’t move her face, Regina knew that she was giving her shit for admitting, out loud, that Emma had strong powers. “Oh shut up, Miss Swan. I am going to help free you. I feel like our combined magic should be strong enough.”

 

Emma felt the grasp of Regina’s hands on her fingers. Regina looked down at them, and then closed her eyes to concentrate. Emma kept her eyes on Regina’s face the whole time. Slowly, she felt a warmth come over her body. It was like being lowered into a warm pool of honey. She squeezed Regina’s hand. Regina let a smile crack through her lips. It was working. When Emma could feel her extremities again, she stood up. “Thanks, Regina.” She said softly.

 

“Don’t thank me, Miss Swan, you are the idiot who fell for the trap and touched squid ink.” Regina looked down at the box in Emma’s hand. “At least we have that now. Can you keep track of it or am I going to have to hold it all the way back to your beau’s ship?” Regina teased.

 

“Stop. It’s not even like that.” Emma sighed. “Also, I’ve got this. I am not a child, I can be responsible for this.” Emma put the small box in her satchel. “What are we going to do with him?” Emma questioned as she casually pointed to the limp body crumpled up at their feet.

 

“I’ll use magic to secure him, those poppies won’t last forever.” Regina replied.

 

“Poppies? Where did you get poppies?” Emma asked with a giggle.

 

“I slipped them off of Tinker Bell. Sometimes, we forget that we are human, too. Somethings are more practical than magic,” Regina said with a wink. “Although, a little magic never hurt anyone.” She finished.

 

“What about ‘All magic comes with a price’?? Pretty sure some people have been victim to that!” Emma threw out.

 

“Most prices are just consequences you didn’t foresee. When you are careful with your magic, you can almost control, well maybe predict, what the outcome will be. All actions have consequences, you just have to learn the pattern and take advantage of it. Magic is no different” Regina said, speaking from years of experience.

 

“Yeah..” Emma started. “I would rather not think about how you know that.” 

 

“Alright, it’s done. Help me conjure some ropes and then we will magic to the ship so we can restore Henry’s heart, and give Pan some poetic justice.” Regina said coolly.

 

Emma followed her orders. Regina skillfully wrapped and tied the rope around his body and hands. Emma couldn’t help but notice the intimate knowledge of rope tying that Regina seemed to have. She tried to not think about how she wanted to be tied up by Regina with the ropes that they had conjured. Little did she know, Regina was sneaking glances her way, catching glimpses of her exposed midriff, and wanting to do the same to her.

 

…

 

After they got Pan all tied up, they magicked themselves back to the Jolly Roger. They were met by Neal and Hook, who were standing on the deck. They agreed to watch Pan’s body while the women went to retrieve Henry from down below. 

 

Henry was as perfect as they had left him. The preservation spell hadn’t worn off wet. Snow and Charming were standing next to the bunk with him. You could tell that Snow had been crying and running her fingers through the boy’s hair.

 

“Do you two have good news?” Charming asked hopefully.

 

“Yes.” Answered Regina. “We have Henry’s heart in Pan’s body just above us.”

 

Emma went over to her son and scooped him up off of the bed. He was getting big now, almost a teenager, but Emma had never gotten to hold him like this when he was a baby, and she wasn’t going to let how heavy he was stop her from making her little boy whole again. She clamoured up the companionway and laid his body down next to Pan’s, who was slowly but surely starting to stir.

 

Emma looked at her boy. He was beautiful. He was a believer and he was perfect. They had finally gotten him back. They could go home soon. Tears swelled in the back of her eyes. “Regina, you have more experience with this. Maybe you should restore our son?” She asked as she tried to keep the shakes out of her voice.

 

“Of course.” Was all Regina said. She bent over her son and gave him a kiss on the forehead. Then, she turned around to Pan. With a swift motion, she extracted the heart from his chest, and held it triumphantly above him. It was red and pure, just like her boy, so full of love and potential. She took a moment to cloak it with a protection spell, so that nobody could take his heart from his chest again. With a soft and graceful shove, she returned Henry’s heart into his chest.

 

With a deep breath in, Henry sat up and coughed. “What happened??” He questioned, as he saw everybody standing around and looking down at him. “Did I save magic?” He asked again, naively.

 

“No, kid.” Emma answered. While she knew that this was going to hurt his feelings, she had resolved that she was never going to lie to Henry about important things. “Pan tied to steal your heart, The Heart of the Truest Believer, for himself. So that he could revel in youth for longer. So he could have all of the magic for himself. I’m sorry.”

 

Henry rubbed his eyes and looked at the body next to him. He couldn’t explain it, but it had looked like a shadow had just entered Pan’s body. He rubbed his eyes again and shrugged it off as a coming-to moment. He felt stupid for getting taken advantage of.

 

“It is not your fault, Henry.” Regina said as she smoothed his hair. “You were just trying to be good. But, unfortunately, some people in this universe are going to try to make that work for themselves.” She looked at the deck with an ashamed look in her eye, “I know because I have been a person who takes advantage of people. It is despicable and I’m trying to be better. Less manipulative.”

 

Henry tried to not look as sad as he felt. “So, what are we going to do with him?” He said as he nodded at Peter Pan. 

 

“We are going to first let Rumple out of this box, then we are going to trap him in it.” Emma said as she held Pandora’s Box out for them all to see. She focused hard on the glass orb on the top until a white light came out of it. Within moments, Rumplestiltskin materialized in front of them on the Jolly Roger.

 

“Thank you, dearie,” He said as he nodded at Emma. “It was not pleasant in there.”

 

“Good.” Emma retorted. “Want to lock up your father?” She said as she tossed the box to the older man.

 

“With pleasure,” he said with a devilish grin. Rumple point the box at Pan’s body, and within moments, he got sucked inside. “Now that that is taken care of, what are we going to do next?” He asked.

 

“Let’s go home!” Henry said to a sea of nodding heads.


	9. Maybe I Should Mention One More Thing Before You’re Gone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://twitter.com/khaleegis/status/1045080349213175808?s=20
> 
> This is the cover for this chapter thanks to the lovely evilregal_gis I HIGHLY recommend checking out this art. Lovely!

The last couple of weeks since they had gotten back from Neverland had been anything except what everybody had been hoping for when they got back from that nightmare. Shit had hit the fan. There was no quiet or easy living. Peter Pan had somehow magically escaped from Pandora’s Box and was reeking havoc on Storybrooke. He was controlled by his shadow now, so every move he made was darker than before.

 

    He had even recruited some Lost Boys to help him in his mission to make Storybrooke his own personal playground. He wanted it to be almost a Neverland 2.0, bigger and badder than ever before. He had even gone so far as to craft another Dark Curse.

 

    Regina was in her vault, frantically searching for something, anything, that could help them stop the curse. She knew the truth deep down, though. There was nothing that could stop this curse. Once it started, there was only a matter of time. She would try anything to slow it’s spread, though. If she could slow it down infinitely, then they could continue living their lives for at least a while longer.

 

    Regina needed something to stop the spread of it otherwise she would be forever separated from the only two people who truly cared about her; Henry and Emma. She hadn’t said it aloud, but she knew that something had changed between the women on their most recent mission, and Regina wasn’t ready to lose either of them.

 

    She had gone through all of her vials of potions, desperate to find something that would work. She frantically paged through spellbook after spellbook. There was nothing that she could find that would help her. Maleficent had given her this spell, which had come from the Black Fairy herself. That meant that there was probably nothing that any average book had on how to stop it. It came from the darkest of realms and was meant to permanently disrupt whose ever life that it touched.

 

    She had considered calling on her old teacher, Rumplestiltskin, for advice, but then she had talked herself out of it, because she knew that he could not be trusted in matters of family. He abandoned his son for the pursuit of power, just like his father abandoned him for youth, and Neal had abandoned Henry in exchange for, well, Neal might could be the only one that she would let off a little easy, since he didn’t know that Emma was pregnant when she had gotten arrested. Still, she didn’t like or trust Neal. He had hurt Emma in a lasting way, and somehow that affected her opinion of him.

 

    After hours of searching, Regina’s frustration hit a breaking point. She was about ready to give up. She couldn’t find anything to save them or the town. If she were a weaker human, she may have broken down in tears. Instead, she let her frustration motivate her. She was fishing through a drawer full of scrolls when she found one written in special ink.

 

    It was the last bit of her original Dark Curse, written in powerful squid ink. She stared at the parchment and thought to herself. “Maybe.. Maybe I could make this work for me.” With a smirk, she analyzed the loophole she had just found. If she enacted this part of the spell, it would undo her curse. Storybrooke will have never existed. That way, Pan’s curse couldn’t affect them, because they wouldn’t have ever been there in the first place. It seemed like a good idea.

 

    Except, Regina really started to think about it, and there was a flaw in this plan. They would all be sent back to the Enchanted Forest right before the curse hit. But, Emma had been sent through the portal in the tree before her curse had struck. That meant that she wouldn’t be back there when they got sent back. And if she wasn’t in that realm, there is no way Henry would be either. She would be changing history if she enacted this curse. She would have never had the opportunity to adopt Henry.

 

    “All magic comes with a price,” She said to herself. The first time she enacted this curse, she had to sacrifice the thing that she loved most, which was her father. It seemed as though she was going to have to do that again, with her son. At least she didn’t have to kill anybody this time, she thought. The pain of being separated stabbed in her chest. Regina knew it was the only way to save the town and to repent for what she had done to create it in the first place. She tucked the scroll in her pocket and headed down to Granny’s to share her plan with the rest of the group.

 

…

 

    Regina walked in the front door of Granny’s to find the whole crew waiting for her; Emma, Henry, Snow, Charming, Hook, Granny, and a couple of the dwarves. It pained her to explain it, but she told her plan to everybody with a somber sort of acceptance. She couldn’t look into Emma’s eyes when she was saying it out of fear that it would make it seem too real and that she wouldn’t go through with it, at the expense of perhaps losing them forever. Rumple had made the Savior as a safeguard against her curse, but she wasn’t sure if Peter Pan would have to include something like that into his own devastating curse. The room was silent after she finished explaining her loophole theory.

 

    Snow spoke up first, “Well. This isn’t what we were expecting, but it is the best and most clever thing that we have got.” She turned to Emma, put her hand on her cheek, and gave her a sweet motherly kiss on the head. “Emma. I am so glad that we got to meet you, to see the woman you have become. When we sent you through the portal the last time, we did so such that you could have your best chance. I think that Regina’s plan give us all our best chance of avoiding whatever hell could be waiting with Pan’s curse.”

 

    Tears swelled in Emma’s eyes. She wasn’t usually this emotional, but being told that her family, the one that she had worked so hard to have, and was just getting used to letting in, was about to be taken from her, it broke her. Her son’s mother was going to be taken from her. They were all going to be shipped off to another realm and it would just be her and Henry alone in this one. “This is shit.” Emma spit through her teeth. “I’m the Savior. I’m supposed to bring back the happy endings. That’s what Henry said!”

 

    “Happy endings aren’t always what we think that they will be,” Said Snow softly, looking at her daughter’s eyes. “You have turned into everything I wanted for you. You are unselfish, brave, and true. I don’t like that this has to happen this way, but it your best chance. That’s all I ever wanted to give to you.”

 

Charming walked up behind his wife and daughter and gave them a big hug. “This isn’t over. Our family always finds each other.” He assured them. He was trying to be the rock of the family, but still, tears glazed over his eyes.

 

“Sorry to ruin the moment,” Regina spoke up, “but, there isn’t much time.” Her words broke apart the group hug. “Emma, you and Henry need to go to the loft and to my house and pack up quickly. I will meet you at the town line in fifteen minutes.” Regina turned on her heels and walked out the door.

 

Emma looked at Henry and nodded her head towards the door. The yellow bug was parked in front of the diner. He gave every single person in the diner a hug and then turned toward the door and slowly made his way out. Emma started behind him.

 

When Emma was almost at the door, she felt a hand grab hers. Her heart skipped when she thought it might be Regina’s, but before she turned around, she could tell it wasn’t. It was more rough than Regina’s hand would be. Not as tender, either. She turned around to see nobody except of course, Killian, the man who had been aggressively pursuing her from the moment he laid eyes on her. “Swan.” He said, with desperation in his eyes. “Not a day will go by that I won’t think of you.” He looked at her so earnestly it almost hurt.

 

“Good.” She said as she turned and flipped her golden curls over the back of her shoulder. She could tell that he was wanting to kiss her goodbye, so she kept her eyes forward, and let her hand slip out of his as she walked away. She may have let him in during a time when she was weaker, but she needed to be strong for her son. For herself. That meant not letting anybody hold her back.

 

…

 

Henry and Emma quickly packed up their belongings. Emma had moved so much throughout her life that she seldom acquired things that she was attached to, so she was ready quite quickly. Henry, on the other hand, was pretty indecisive over what he would and wouldn’t miss, because he had never had to think about it before. After seven minutes of stuffing everything he could into his largest suitcase, they were back in the bug, and heading out to the town line to meet Regina.

 

...

 

Regina slowly walked down Main Street, soaking in everything that she had created one last time. Although she had made this town out of fear and vengeance, it had morphed into something more. The townspeople had their memories back, yet they wanted to stay here. It was a nice, quiet life. The shops were closed as the people prepared themselves to go back to the Enchanted Forest, not sure what that really meant. All of the memories from Storybrooke would disappear with the town. Regina felt somber. She wouldn’t remember Henry. The hole in her heart would grow, without her realizing what was causing her pain. She wanted to break down and cry, but that’s not what Queens did. Queens lead their people fearlessly, and that’s what Regina would do. She took comfort in knowing Henry and Emma would have each other still. Even if they didn’t remember the true story of them, they would be together.

 

She had made it to the town line before them, even though she was walking. She hoped they didn’t take too long to get their things in order, otherwise this would all be for nothing. As her anxiety was building to almost unmanageable levels, she heard the familiar sound of that ugly yellow bug coming down the paved road that lead in and out of their town.

 

They pulled right up to the painted line on the road in between the corn fields and parked, each wanting to say goodbye to Regina in their own special way. Emma let Henry go first. He was crying without making any noise and clutching on to Regina like a toddler on the first day of preschool. He looked so small then. Emma’s heart could have broken into a thousand pieces seeing the two people who she cared about the most saying goodbye to each other forever. Regina whispered something into his ear which made him smile for a second, before he broke free and headed back to the car. He sat in the passenger seat and Emma knew it was her turn to say goodbye.

 

Emma had been dreading saying goodbye to Regina more than she had realized. Her heart was beating a couple hundred times a minute. She looked at the beautiful woman, with her dark hair, dark eyes, and dark lips. Her eyes hung on Regina’s lips. She wanted to kiss her goodbye, since this was the last time she was going to see her, but she couldn’t muster up the courage to move any closer to the woman who had begun to dominate most of her thoughts. She pressed her lips tightly together, trying not to cry. In a few moments, she wouldn’t even remember Regina. All that they had been through would have been for nothing.

 

Regina looked at Emma with a pain in her eyes  that Emma had never seen before. “Emma.” she started, then inhaled deeply. “There's something I haven't told you.” Regina chewed on her bottom lip as she looked into Emma’s captivating emerald eyes. She had thought about what she was going to say on the walk over, but saying it out loud gave a validity that she had been denying until now.

 

Emma’s heart pounded in her ears. What was she going to say? Surely, it wasn’t what Emma had hoped that it would be. She couldn’t tell if what Regina was about to say was good or bad. Maybe Regina didn’t know herself. Emma let out a sigh and asked, “What now?” She was trying to invoke her spunky demeanor and restore the banter between them that usually came so easily.

 

Regina let go of her bottom lip and did her best to explain what had been hurting her since she thought about the loophole. “When the curse washes over us, it will send us all back. Nothing will be left behind. Including your memories. It's just what the curse does.” She let the words sink in as she kept looking into Emma’s eyes. It would probably be the last time she would be able to, so she wanted to cherish it. She continued, “Storybrooke will no longer exist. It won't ever have existed. So, these last years will be gone from both your memories. Now we'll go back to being just stories again.” She managed, with her eyes slightly more wet than they normally were.

 

Emma pursed her lips. She didn’t like the sound of where this was going. “What will happen to us?” She asked Regina. Emma had planned on driving to New York with Henry, but she really just wanted to stay there until the town turned into woods again.

  
    “I don't know.” The Mayor responded and looked at the ground.  
  
    Emma shrugged her shoulders with her arms crossed in front of her body. This was not the answer she wanted to hear from the person who was supposed to know everything. “Doesn't sound like much of a happy ending.” She muttered. Emma was used to being miserable, but it still fucking sucked.

 

Regina chuckled, laughing at the cruelness of fate. “It's not. Maybe this is the price of my magic. I’m left to be miserable without the people I care about. Without a happy ending.” She said, “But, I can give you one.” She offered.

 

Emma’s eyes brightened for a second, “You can preserve our memories?” She asked, all too excited. She felt despair about losing every memory since she had come to Storybrooke, even the bad ones. She wanted to remember the fire that Regina had put in her when she had first come to town.

  
    Regina looked away from Emma, “No, I can’t do that, but I can…” she started, “I can do what I did to everyone else in this town. Give you new ones.”

 

Momentarily flabbergasted, Emma shook her head. “You cursed them and they were miserable!” she exclaimed.  
  
    Regina gave her a soft look. “They didn't have to be.” Regina grasped Emma's hands, “My gift to you is good memories, good life for you and Henry. You'll have never given him up.” Tears finally broke through the hard exterior of the face, saying aloud her earlier realization, “You'll have always been together.” She cried at the thought of neither of them remembering her, of her not remembering either of them. It was all so much. She had to act fast, though. The air was buzzing with the magic from Pan’s curse. They were running out of time.

 

Emma’s heart swelled. Regina really had turned over a new leaf. She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye as she looked into the eyes of her son’s mother, who they were about to lose forever. “You would do that?” She asked.

 

Regina squeezed her hand tightly and smiled at Emma. “When I stop Pan's curse and you cross that town line, you will have the life you always wanted.” She said. Regina was trying so hard to focus on the positives for Emma and Henry and not the hellhole that would be her life when she returned back to the Enchanted Forest.

 

Emma looked at her with sadness, “But it won't be real.” She said with a frown.

 

Regina turned Emma’s chin up so they could make eye contact. “Well, your past won't be. But your future will. There isn't much time left- the curse will be here any minute.” She said, the sense of urgency coming over her voice as she saw green clouds forming in the distance.  
  
    Emma was in disbelief. “I can’t believe that you would do that for me.” She said sheepishly towards the woman who used to instill fear in her.  
  
    Regina straightened her posture so that she was taller than her younger counterpart. “I have grown to care for you, Miss Swan.” Regina looked at her beautiful emerald eyes with the tilt of her head. “There’s just one more thing…” she started. Regina stepped forward, closing the space between them. She moved Emma‘s hands from being clasped but in her own to being on her regal hips. The Queen had her hands on Emmas upper arms when she looked at Emmas lips, and then her eyes.  
  
    So many emotions twirled throughout Emma. She asked nervously, “Yes..?”  
  
    Regina closed her eyes, put a hand on Emma’s cheek, and took a deep breath. Emma’s mouth went dry, and her heart raced in her eardrums, her throat, and in between her legs. She clasped onto the lapels of Regina‘s jacket as Regina leaned into her, and their lips met. A rush of excitement came over Emma, and she pulled Regina closer to deepen the kiss.

 

Regina’s hand moved from Emma’s cheek to her hair, and she ran her fingers through Emma’s golden locks. Regina pulled Emma’s head closer to hers and pressed her lips firmly on Emma’s, and she moved them around sensually. Emma kissed her back harder. What had started as slow and intimate have grown into hot and passionate. Regina sunk her front teeth into Emma’s bottom lip, which caused Emma to inhale deeply and sent chills down her spine. This kiss was everything the Savior had wanted.

 

Emma desperately grabbed at Regina, she didn’t want her to have the chance to break away. After years of tension and fighting, the moment she had waited for was here, and she didn’t want to let it end. She pushed her tongue into Regina’s mouth, which she gladly accepted. They rolled into each other, giving and taking until they lost their breath.

 

Emma clung to Regina, stealing more kisses and time that they didn’t have. Her heart broke, of course this was the only time Regina would let her guard down. When there was nothing left to lose. Even knowing that she was about to forget that this kiss ever happened, Emma focused her attention on all the little details she wanted to remember. The feeling of being pressed up against Regina; she felt like home. That little scar on her lip. The way she smelled. It was all so much. Emma pressed her lips as hard as she could into the brunette’s as tears flowed down her cheeks. Everything good in Emma’s life always came to an end.

 

When Regina remembered that their son was waiting in the car not that far away, she broke the contact between their lips and rested her for head on Emma’s shoulder, breathing heavily. One hand grabbed Emma’s lapel on her red leather jacket, the other left the blonde’s hair and was resting on her shoulder.  
  
    Emma was a bowl of noodles. She said breathlessly, “Wow… what was that for?” She was holding Regina’s hops still, and didn’t ever want to let go. She was floating, and Regina kept her grounded.

  
    Regina smirked and fixed her hair. “I knew that you wanted me to, and since we will be seeing each other again, I figured that I might as well indulge you, Miss Swan.” Regina winked at Emma. “Also, I have been wanting to see what all the fuss is about. Maybe guys are just easy.” She shrugged. She was minimizing her feelings about the kiss to try to protect her feelings. In reality, it had ignited something in her.  
  
    Emma felt so embarrassed. Her cheeks flushed and she averted her eyes. She had hoped that Regina had wanted to kiss her for her, but of course, it had been a power play.

  
    Regina noticed Emma’s long face. “Oh, don’t look so ashamed, Dear. Now I know what Hook was after in the woods.” She let out a wink and a small crooked smile to let her know that she had enjoyed the kiss without saying it. “Now, hopefully we didn’t scar our son too much. You two best be running along.” It broke her heart to rush their goodbye, but there would be no saving the townspeople from Pan’s fucked up playground if she didn’t start to reverse her curse soon.

  
    Emma kissed Regina’s thumb, “Thanks for everything, Regina. I mean it.” Emma said with one of the most pained expressions in her eyes. She had wanted to kiss Regina for so long, and now that she did, she didn’t know how she would survive knowing that it was the only time she would ever get to. Then, she remembered that she was about to forget everything that ever happened in Storybrooke. It was oddly comforting then.  
  
    Regina responded, “No, thank you. Your son filled a hole in my heart and taught me that I could love and be loved. My world is better now that you and him have been in it.”  
  
    Regina winked at Emma a final time, who turned around and walked to her bug. She put her hand on the handle and looked up, back at Regina for one last time. Regina blew her a kiss, and purple magic left her hand, cloaking Emma and Henry with their new memories.

  
Emma got in the car, shifted into first, and drove off into the sunset with her son, oblivious of everything that they had just left behind on the other side of the town line. Regina watched them cross the line and touched her lips. That kiss had awoken something in her that she hadn’t felt for a while… hope. Maybe there was a way that they could all be reunited. She reached for the scroll in her pocket, crushed it in her palms, and set the magic free. Whatever was about to change, Regina was sure that she was going to find her way back to her son and her son’s mother.


	10. Plant. Seed. Light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a pretty large time jump in canon time, thus a lot of shit may be left out. Sorry. Trying to make it all fit.

With a startled breath, Regina sat up straight in her bed. She was in her castle, clothed in one of her black nightgowns that hadn’t made it over with the curse. “The curse!” She thought to herself. Somehow, defying all probability, she had retained her memories even after she had reversed that curse. She resolved that since she cast the first curse to begin with, she must have been the loophole in the memory center. 

 

She looked around her bedchamber. Everything was the same as she had left it, to no surprise. She went to brush her hair out in front of her vanity when she noticed something that hadn’t been there before… it was a large leather bound book, like the one that Henry had. The thought of Henry sent her heart plummeting. She got closer to the book to get a better look. Instead of the golden script saying  _ Once Upon A Time _ , it read  _ The Story of Us _ . Intrigued, Regina flipped through some pages. They were stories of their time in Storybrooke. All of them. Mary Margaret teaching the kids in her class about birdhouses, Henry eating that damn turnover, their escapade to Neverland. Regina felt tears come to her eyes as she saw page after page of memories. She knew that this was the key that was going to unlock the way home. 

 

She knew it was going to be an uphill battle convincing everyone to unite with her, seeing as how they all still considered her the Evil Queen here. She was so happy that she remembered, though, because just being in this room was bringing back the depression and angst that she had grown accustomed to while living in the Enchanted Forest. 

 

Regina changed herself into her least offensive dress, it was still black but she hoped that it registered with them that she came in peace. She knew that if she could convince the Charmings, that would be the easiest way to going back to Storybrooke. Instead of magicking herself into their castle unannounced, she decided to appear right outside of their gate. 

 

With the leather bound book under her arm, she marched up to the guards outside the courtyard gate. They immediately drew their weapons, but she raised a hand in surrender. “I mean no harm. I need to talk to Snow.” The guards seemed suspicious of her, but sent a messenger pigeon up to Snow White. 

 

Regina stood there, waiting patiently, for a signal. She knew that the Charmings couldn’t resist a meeting with her, especially a voluntary one. Even if they thought that she was up to something, they would want to talk to her to see if they could beat her at her own game. Which they couldn’t, Regina snickered. 

 

After many awkward minutes, the gate started ascending, clearing the way for Regina to enter the castle. The guards that were lined every twenty feet acted brave as she walked past, but she could tell that they were still afraid of her. That was part of being the Evil Queen that she liked. She got off on the power, which is what had gotten them into the mess in the first place. 

 

Regina entered the Great Room of the castle, where Snow and Charming were already waiting for her. “Sorry I’m late,” she said with a delicious smile. Charming reached for his sword, but Snow motioned for him to stop with her hand. 

 

“Regina.” Snow said firmly, “What brings you here? Going to pretend that there is another Dark Curse coming so that we can send our next child through a wardrobe for nothing again? Was that your plan all along??” Snow was hurt. You could tell that she had been crying, mourning the loss of her daughter. It was painful to see her puffy eyes and her heartbreak, when she had really just been with her grown daughter not that long before. 

 

“Listen,” Regina said, “I did create a Dark Curse. For that, I’m sorry.”

 

“Sorry doesn’t cut it!” Charming interrupted. 

 

“I know, believe me, I know,” Regina started. “I’m hoping this book can help explain some things. You see, I met your daughter. And your grandson. They helped me change. They helped me believe in hope.”

 

“Grandson? Our daughter is just days old and you are talking about a grandson?!” Charming said, exasperated. 

 

Snow, being the kind soul that she was, knew that Regina was telling the truth, no matter how strange it may have started. Something, no, everything was different about Regina. She had come to them. She had asked them to be admitted into their castle. Even her look was softer. No, this was not the Regina that had stormed in on their wedding. Maybe, she was telling the truth. “Charming- let’s hear her out.”

 

A blanket of relief settled over Regina. If there was one thing she could count on, it was Snow’s tenacity for seeing the best in people. She had hoped that this would work in her favor. Regina outstretched her arm to show them the beautiful leather bound book. “Please,” she begged, “Please just read this and tell me if any of it resonates with you.” She offered it out to the couple. 

 

They grabbed it in unison, and for half a second their eyes went blank. Regina got scared until she saw a smile start to blossom on both of their faces. They didn’t even need to read the book, just touching it had made all of their memories come back. They remembered finding each other again after the first curse, David remembered teaching Henry how to sword fight, Snow remembered taking in Emma as a tenant when she first arrived. They came to and looked at Regina bewildered. 

 

“So, does this mean that you stopped Pan’s curse?” Snow asked. 

 

“I think so,” Regina said tentatively. 

 

“Where is everybody else?” Asked Charming. 

 

“Probably spread throughout the kingdom, going on about their lives just as they had before any of my curse happened all those years ago,” Regina offered. 

 

“So.. Storybrooke..?” Snow couldn’t even formulate the full question. 

 

“Gone. Never existed. Just a story right here.” She lifted the book up. 

 

“Oh my god, what about Emma and Henry?” She asked worriedly. 

 

“I sent them on their way to New York. As far as they know, they have always been together. They have had a happy life with each other, and they think we are just characters in a story.”

 

“Oh, Regina. You did that for them?” Snow asked. 

 

“Of course.” Regina said meekly, looking at the ground. 

 

“Surely, there is a way to get back to them. There has to be. Our family always finds each other.” Charming said determinedly. 

 

“I have been thinking about that since I woke up.” Regina said. “But, I do not think you are going to like what I have come up with.”

 

“Oh no,” said Charming. Regina was usually scheming, so whatever she had planned worried him. 

 

“So, I think the only way to get back to Storybrooke is to enact another curse.” Regina said tentatively. 

 

“Alright. Um. Okay.” Snow started. “Can you make it where we aren’t all miserable and forgetful?”

 

“The memory part was something I had added in to ensure control.” Regina said. 

 

“Okay. Well, that shouldn’t be to bad. Do you have all the ingredients for the potion?” Snow asked. 

 

“That’s the part that I don’t think you are going to like as much…” Regina started. 

 

“Oh shit, this can’t be good,” replied Charming. 

 

“You’re right. It’s not.” Regina said matter-of-factly. “As you know, a part of this curse requires that you give up the thing that you love most.” Regina let the silence sink in for a moment. “For the first curse, that was my father, as you know. To undo it, I had to give up Henry.” Snow and Charming eyed each other while she finished, “Now…” Regina inhaled deeply. “I have nothing left that I love.”

 

“What does that mean? We are going to have to sit and wait around until you fall in love again?” Charming asked rudely. 

 

“You impetulant man.” Regina scoffed. 

 

“Regina. Are you saying that you can’t make the curse?” Snow asked timidly. 

 

“Yes.” Regina said, trying not to feel ashamed. 

 

“Then what do you suppose we do?” Charming blurted out, not trying to hide his frustration. 

 

Regina turned to Snow, held her hands, looked her in the eye, and said, “You have dabbled in magic.  I think that you are going to need to be the one to cast this curse.”

 

Letting the words from her ex-Stepmother sink in, Snow turned to Charming. Her lip quivered. “I- I don’t think I can. I can’t go on without you.” 

 

“I thought you had changed, Regina. What you’re asking us to do is pretty fucked up. Are you sure this isn’t part of your plan to ruin our happy ending like you threatened all those years ago?” Charming was now yelling. 

 

Surprisingly, Regina kept her composure. “Listen to me. I wasn’t done explaining. You both have said at separate times that you are one soul living in two bodies. We know that you share true love for each other. I think that there may be a way around this.”

 

Snow looked at Regina inquisitively. “There is a way to get around the fact that I need to crush his heart?”

 

“Yes.” Regina affirmed. “Snow, you are one of the strongest women I have ever met. Maybe the strongest, besides your daughter.”

 

“Thanks, Regina, but if I have to break his heart, I think it would break mine,” Snow responded. 

 

Regina smiled, “Exactly.”

 

“What?!” The two of them said in unison. 

 

“See? You’re already like one person. I think, if we take Charming’s heart out, then we could take out your heart, Snow, split it, and the two of you could each have half. Snow, your heart is so big, so compassionate, so strong. It could beat for the both of you.” Regina finished. 

 

Charming looked skeptical. Snow pondered the thought for a bit. “What if it doesn’t work?” She asked. 

 

“If it doesn’t work, then you’ll both be dead. So, you will still be together. Nobody else has their memories from before. Henry and Emma will still be happy, and I will still be miserable.”

 

Snow’s resolve steeled. Regina was right. If they really did ever want to see their daughter and grandson again, they had to do whatever they could. “Alright.” She finally mustered. 

 

“Alright?!?!?” Charming questioned. 

 

“Yes. This is our only hope. There’s no beans left here. She is right. It is our only way back.”

 

Charming looked at his wife. He knew when she was right. This was one of those times. With a deep breath, he sighed, “Alright.” As well. 

 

“We should get to work right away,” Regina said and went towards the dungeon, where she had hidden some ingredients long ago. 

 

…

 

The heart splitting worked, and before they knew it, they were back in Storybrooke again. Regina had patiently waited for Emma to feel the magnetic pull that would drive her and Henry back to their little town in Maine from New York. 

 

While she waited, she had noticed that some unexpected guests had hitched a ride with them back with Snow’s curse. Robin, her supposed soulmate, along with his wife, Marian, and their son, Roland had been in the radius that time. It was torture for Regina to see them all happy as a family when she didn’t have her own. She had discovered that she had an older sister named Zelena who was truly wicked. Any plan that Zelena formulated was so much more fucked than even those that Regina had made when she was embracing the title of Evil Queen to its fullest. She was happy that she hadn’t known her then, because she did not know how awful they would have been if they had teamed up. 

 

...

 

It took a couple of days, but there it was, that damn yellow bug. Emma had crossed the town line and immediately Regina knew that they were back. She played it cool, though, because she didn’t know if Emma’s memories would come back with her. Hook, Snow, and Charming enthusiastically greeted them and took them to Granny’s. They remembered. 

 

Regina went down to meet them with the rest of the group. “Mom!” Henry called out as he ran up to her a clasped his little arms around her waist. Regina smiled, pet his hair, and gave him a kiss on the forehead, which he didn’t even wipe off. “I have missed you,” Regina said as she held him. The words came out as she was looking at Emma, though. She was sitting next to an ecstatic Hook. 

 

Henry recounted how Emma had just had this overwhelming feeling to go on a spontaneous trip to the coast of Maine. Always up for an adventure, Henry didn’t protest. They swapped stories about how they all came to be back in Storybrooke and everybody seemed happy. Regina left early to get some solitude from all the changes that had taken place in such a short time. 

 

…

 

Life in Storybrooke didn’t lend to much down time. There was always something happening, some sort of crisis that needed to be solved. But, the residents tried to keep things as normal as they could. Granny opened at the same time every day, school kept the children busy, and the heroes tried to keep the town in order.

 

Regina had been getting the brunt end on the stick on almost everything these days. She had begun to believe what Gold had said about heroes not getting their happy endings. First, Zelena had showed up in her life, demanding to ruin it in a way possible. She felt jealous that Cora had seemingly given Regina everything she could have asked for. Regina wished she could have traded places with Zelena because surely then she would realize that growing up with no mother was better than growing up with a manipulative crazy person who only saw you for your beauty and used you as a pawn to get to the throne.

 

When Zelena wasn’t making her life shit, there was Emma Swan. Emma had gone and brought back Robin’s wife, after she so desperately was trying to make it work with the man who was rumored to be her soul mate. When she had remembered her kiss with Emma, she thought that maybe something would come out of it. It turned out Emma was going through some gay panic or something, though, because she seemed to be shacking up with the pirate. They were closer than ever nowadays. Regina hardly saw one without the other.

 

Because of this, she had flung herself at Robin. Tinker Bell had insisted that he was her soulmate. She wanted to pretend that Emma didn’t have any effect on her, so she had mind-numbing sex with Robin as a distraction. He was good enough, but never as passionate as Regina had imagine her soulmate to be.

 

Regina was currently sulking in her vault because she had lost not one but two of her playthings. She wanted to be away from it all and lick her wounds like an animal after losing a fight. Of course, though, she heard the door to her vault open, and from the weight of the footsteps, she knew that it could only be one person. “What do I have to do to get you to leave me alone, Swan? Go away.” She said, the annoyance dripping off of her voice.

 

“I'm an idiot.” Emma admitted, throwing her arms out beside her.  
  
Regina squinted her eyes and replied with sarcasm, “Finally, something we can agree on.”  
  
Emma moved a little bit closer to the brunette, “I'm an idiot because I've been down this road before.” She admitted softly.  
  
“Irritating me?” Regina replied, not looking at the Savior, “Yes, you have.”  
  
Emma shook her head and looked at the dirty floor. “No, when I was a kid.” she started to explain. “Someone came into my life for a while, and I thought we were gonna be... Best friends.” She said, catching herself. Now was not the time to go into her complicated history with her first heartbreak. “But, this girl lied to me, and I pushed her away because of that lie, and she asked me to forgive her, but I never did.” Emma looked up to see if Regina was looking at her. She was. 

 

“It took some time, but I realized that was a mistake. And I regretted the decision. But by then, it was too late. The damage was already done. I don't want to make the same mistake again, Regina.” She looked into Regina’s eyes, hoping to find any semblance of forgiveness. “Living in Storybrooke, I've got my son and my parents, and I love them. But they can't always understand me. They don't know what it feels like to be rejected and misunderstood…”

 

Emma paused, collecting her thoughts. She didn’t want to offend Regina, but she knew how touchy she could be when she brought up sensitive topics. “Not the way I do, not the way you do. And somehow that makes us... I don't know... Unique, or maybe even special. I wasn't looking for you to assuage my guilt. I was just looking for you to be my friend.” Emma ended her little spiel that she had been practicing on the way over to Regina’s vault. She looked at her, hoping for some affirmation.  
  
Regina bit her bottom lip. “You thought we were friends?” The Queen asked.  
  
Emma let out a small chuckle. “Crazy, right? But I thought it could be, that it was possible.” A more determined look spread across the blonde’s face. “I'm not gonna stop trying. Even if you still want to kill me.” She finished. Regina didn’t say anything for a beat, so Emma turned on her heels to leave.  
  
“Emma, wait.” Regina called as she reached out an arm towards her. “I don't want to kill you.” She admitted.  
  
A triumphant grin spread across Emma’s face. “See? That's a start.”  
  
Regina pulled her mouth flat “Sometimes, it’s just so hard for me…” she started slowly.

 

Emma jumped in, “What is so hard for you?”

 

Regina shrugged. “Letting people in. For so long, I simply depended on myself, and I thought that I was better off for it.” Regina sat on a bench with her hands on her knees.  
  
Emma walked over to Regina and sat on the same bench as her. “Girl, you’re preaching to the choir. But don’t worry,” Emma reached out to hold Regina’s hand, “you can trust me. I promise that I wont ever intentionally hurt you.” Emma said with great sincerity.   
  
Regina sighed. “I guess that’s it. I don’t want to be hurt. After what happened with Daniel, I didn’t want to risk having my heart broken again. I don’t think that I could take it”.  
  
Emma squeezed her hand and offered support, “At least with Daniel, you knew that he loved you until his dying breath. I thought that Neal decided to stop loving me, and the best way to get rid of me was to lock me up.”  
  
Regina looked at the ground, feeling selfish. “You’re right, that is pretty fucked.” she said.  
  
Emma agreed, “Yes, it was. Like I didn’t already have abandonment issues. Fortunately, I was once told, “If you can fall in love once, you can fall in love again.” I guess that I have decided to believe that.” Emma started to lightly trace the veins in Regina’s arms with the tips of her fingers, then let her eyes follow her arm up to her neck, then her face, until she locks eyes with the Queen. “How about you, Your Highness? Do you believe that?”

  
Regina steadied herself, “I guess… Tinkerbell did say that I could find love again.” Regina noticed the goosebumps on her arm appearing as a trail along her veins where Emma’s fingers were lightly caressing her body.  
  
Regina looked up at Emma. Her dark brown hair hung in her turned down face to meet the blonde’s once more. Without much thought, Regina placed her hand on Emma’s cheek, and pulled her in for a kiss. A look of excitement washed across Emma’s face when she realized what was happening.  
  
Emma had regained her memories with the curse broken, and the one that had kept replaying in her head was that amazing and breathtaking kiss that they had shared at the town line before departing for New York. She had not wanted to bring it up on the chance that it may have merely been a power play by Regina, but now that she was initiating a second kiss, well, Emma couldn’t help but to be eager. After all, the sight of Regina had been stirring the butterflies in her stomach, and watching the way she moved often caused Emma to bite her lip.  
  
Emma closed the space between them and their lips met. The soft skin of Regina’s lips greeted hers and moved over them lightly and gracefully.  
  
“God damn, she does everything like a queen, doesn’t she?” Emma thought to herself.  
  
Regina’s hand moved from Emma’s cheek to the nape of her neck. She stretched her fingers out and clasped them back together, grabbing a thick chunk of blonde hair. Regina pulled Emma’s hair, causing Emma’s head to tilt up and expose her neck. Regina ran her lips down Emma’s neck along her main artery, until she reached her collarbone, where she planted her full pouty lips in a big kiss. Regina alternated between biting and kissing/sucking back up Emma’s neck until she reached her ears. She carefully took Emma’s earlobe between her teeth and began to suck on it. This caused goosebumps to make their way down Emma’s body like a forest fire. Regina didn’t know why she had started kissing Emma, but watching her body’s reactions to what she was doing just fueled the Queen’s own desire.  
  
Regina purred, pleased that the reactions she was illicting from the blonde. “You like the way I make you feel, don’t you, Miss Swan?”  
  
All Emma could muster was a breathy “mmhmm” as she was so focused on the woman in front of her and didn’t want her mouth to stop what it was doing to make words.  
  
In a fluid motion, Regina stood and scooped Emma up. Regina held Emma’s ass in her hands as the blonde enthusiastically wrapped her legs around the Queen’s back, pulling her closer to her center. Her eyes open, not breaking contact with Emma’s piercing emeralds, Regina walked toward the wall of her vault and pinned Emma against it while forcefully and hungrily kissing her.  


Regina loved feeling the blonde squirm beneath her. Every touch she gave and bite of flesh she took made Emma wiggle and beg for more. She firmly grabbed Emma’s ass and rocked her hips in between her spread legs. Emma was running her hands all over her body, trying to get her fingers to memorize every curve Regina guessed. She sank herself deeper into the kiss. Emma had this strange effect on her that made her not think about the consequences of her actions. The little voice in her head kept telling her to stop but the little voice in her pants beckoned her on. She wanted to feel Emma’s skin against hers. She slid her fingers down the back of Emma’s pants so that she could feel her bare ass in her hands. It was tight and firm and Regina so desperately wanted to turn her around and take a bite out of it, but she forced herself to go slow. Nothing good would come out of rushing into this when they had so many other problems to be focusing on.

  
Being pinned against the wall and between this regal queen was having its effects on Emma. She could feel the warmth pooling between her legs and wondered if Regina could, too. With every inhale, their breasts touched, and sent waves of arousal through her. Emma licked the line of cleavage that Regina had exposed and was met with an assertive rock of hips. Taking this as a good sign, she attempted to pull down the neckline of Regina’s shirt to expose one of her hard little nipples and suck on it.  
  
Regina stopped. She knew that removing clothes was a boundary that once they crossed, that there would be no coming back from. “Mm mm, Miss Swan.” Regina tutted at her. “It seems as though somebody is being a little impatient.” She said, her voice teasing like hot honey. 

  
Emma was stunned. She was breathing heavily, staring at Regina, and then she squinted her eyes. “I’m a little confused as to what you are doing here, Regina.” Her hormones were raging as she felt the cool wall on her back. To her disappointment, Regina let her down from her grasp.  
  
Regina fixed herself, straightened out her clothes and flattened her hair, “You’ll have to work a lot harder than that if you want to see more of me, Miss Swan. Just because the wife of the person who was supposed to be my soulmate has showed up doesn’t mean that I am that easy. Now, run along.” She said before she made a shoo-ing motion with her hand.  
  
Regina used a flat open hand to point to the entrance to her vault. Confused and in a fit of petty annoyance, Emma fixed her hair, let out a big sigh, and stormed out of the vault. Her boots stomped up the stone stairs, and she slammed the door to it shut to let Regina know how annoyed she was at her. 


	11. I Was Never Good At Being Patient When I Should

With a disdainful huff, Emma closed the door to Regina’s father’s mausoleum. Well, if she was being honest with herself, she slammed it like a child. She stomped through the cemetery, cheeks flushed, still reeling from the whole encounter and the disappointing end to it. The Evil Queen loved to play her games; she loved to have her pets. Emma had pretty much always been the one to take the dominant role in her relationships, but it seemed that she had met her match. She let another sigh escape as she opened the door to her yellow bug. As she sat down, she felt the slickness between her thighs. She closed the door behind her with another satisfying click.

  
“Well,” Emma thought to herself, “I better do something about this now, before I have to go home to Henry and my parents.”  
  
When she adjusted her hips, she felt that hot wet thickness slide between her lower lips. This reminded her of exactly the effect that the Mayor had over her. She looked out the windows of her bug around the cemetery at dusk, and noticed that not a soul was around. Taking advantage of this quasi-privacy, she unbuttoned her jeans timidly. The Savior grabbed her zipper and pulled it down slowly. She didn’t want to be caught and thought of as some menacing pervert but she had to attend to the burning in between her legs or she felt like she just might die. She fished her right hand underneath her beige lacy panties, past the small patch of coarse hair, and to the slick pulsating bud between her swollen lips. 

 

Oh, the relief felt so good. She needed to be touched after that crazy arousing experience that she had just had. Her left hand went through her blonde curls and grabbed her right breast, fully at first. Then, as her right hand was making small focused circles around her clit, her left hand grasped harder and tighter until it was just her thumb, pointer, and middle finger twirling and pinching her little pink nipple. The hand in her pants was now coated with her arousal; she used two fingers to fill her hole with long, slow strokes, using in palm of her hand to rub the sensitive area at the top. With every pinch of her nipple and stroke of her clit heat and arousal burst through her toes.   
  


She hadn’t discovered how sensitive her nipples were until she got into the depths of the internet one day and read about how some women’s nipples could intensify their orgasms. Since she never came from penetrative sex, she looked into it. Once she discovered how much she liked it, a whole new world was opened for her. She could feel her orgasms through her entire body. She moaned as she thought about Regina taking one of her breasts into her mouth and swirling her tongue around her nipple. When she was this aroused, she could feel every pinch and lick in her clit and her toes. She needed to cum to get some relief. 

  
Emma could not believe that Regina would lead her on like this. It was just like her, though, to get Emma all worked up, just to shut her down. How could Emma not have foreseen the encounter she just had ending this way? They had always had a fight me/fuck me relationship. Emma continued to prod at her flooded vagina, and brought some of the wetness back up to her clit. Every time she circled it, her arousal grew. She thought about when she first moved to Storybrooke, and Regina with that fucking apple tree. Emma wanted to pin her to that tree. She wanted the vines on it to come alive with magic and wrap themselves around Regina to hold her in place while Emma gave her the fucking she deserved. Emma imagined the vines tightening around Regina every time she tried to move or defy Emma’s desires to please her.  
  
Emma stroked her pulsating clitoris harder, thinking about the earthy vines wrapped ever so elegantly around Regina’s waist, the vines pinning Regina’s wrist by her head, and making the tree wrap them up her legs, spreading them just enough for Emma to have easy access to Regina’s center. She plunged her fingers fast and hard into her pussy, imagining that she was fucking Regina hard against the bark of that damn apple tree. 

 

She thought about how Regina had scooped her up back in the vault. The way her hands had firmly grasped each of her ass cheeks. Emma had always admired how toned Regina’s arms were, but to find out she was not only fit, but also strong, made her knees go weak. She could have melted between that wall and Regina’s body and had been happy.

 

She thought about Regina’s lips. Just moments before, that were on hers. They were fueled by an angsty lust that had momentarily taken over Regina. Emma wondered how she could make that version of the Queen last longer. She thought about the heat in Regina’s eyes as she pushed her harder into the wall. The circles on her clit sped up. She should have taken Regina’s lips in between her teeth when she had a chance. The scar in her upper lip had always made Emma feel things. She had never asked how she had gotten it, but it added to her intimidation factor that had Emma soaking wet.

 

Emma’s breath was getting hotter and quicker. She was getting close. She thought about Regina’s perfect breasts. Oh god, she just wanted to watch those apples fall. She remembered the feeling of her tongue sliding over the slit in her cleavage. She knew that she could make her cum.   
  


…

  
While Emma had just left all annoyed at the blue balls that Regina gave her, Regina was smiling in her power play. She hadn’t forgotten about their passionate kiss that they had shared at the town line, and had been waiting for the right moment to try again. She was mighty frazzled after their encounter as well, so she decided to peak in on the blonde. With all of her regalness, she demanded from the mirror in a sing-song voice, “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, show me the one who will save us all.”  
  
The mirror swirled and lit up, revealing to the Queen the image of Emma Swan, as seen from the rear view mirror in her bug. The Savior, with a light glossy layer of sweat on her brow, was vigorously pleasing herself, with her eyes shut tight and her teeth sunk into her bottom lip. Just from this image, Regina could tell Emma was getting close to finishing. The thought of the Savior not being able to control herself after kissing her made her nipples harden and her pussy clench. “I love these games we play,” Regina thought to herself as she watched the Savior finish herself with a load moan and a buck of her hips. The act of secretly watching her, coupled with Emma’s loud breaths and moans heightened the Queen’s own arousal, but Regina was going to save it all for when she could actually be able to feel the blonde on her… to communicate to her exactly how this mayor would be touched.  
  
“All in time, Miss Swan,” Regina purred. With a flash of her hand, the mirror turned back into silky smoke, dimmed, and then returned to a normal mirror.  



	12. The Only Constant Now Is Change

Regina was in her study at the mayor’s mansion, pouring over the magic book, trying to find clues about the author. “Why is this so damn difficult?!” She groaned to herself, exasperated. The Queen had been carefully reading each line, but was no closer to finding out anything about the one person who may know how to rewrite her story. If she wasn’t supposed to be with her soulmate, then what was her happy ending? Because she was so engrossed in the process, she neglected to hear the front door open and close, and then subsequent footsteps up the stairs and down the hallway. Finally, Regina heard a knock on the frame of her door, which slightly startled her.  
  
Emma peaked her head into the study, “Hey, boss, what’s up?” She offered cheerfully.  
  
Regina closed the book shut in an authoritative manner, “What are you doing here, Miss Swan? I don’t recall inviting you into the privacy of my home.” She came off defensively.  
  
Emma took a half step back. She was not expecting Queen Regina when she walked into her house, but Regina, mother of her son. Something was obviously bothering her. “Henry and I got Granny’s after school, and then I walked him home to drop him off. Sorry if I interrupted... something..?” She sort of apologized as she looked around Regina’s study. 

  
Regina rubbed the cover of the book. “It’s nothing.” She started, and then blew the entire content of her lungs through her lips, “Nothing if not frustrating and infuriating.”  
  
Emma took a few steps into the office, testing the Queen’s wrath. “You know, they say a really good way to cope with frustration is to vent about it to someone..” Emma opened her arms, turned her hands up, and scrunched her fingers up towards her body, indicating that she was suggesting herself.

  
Regina raised an eyebrow and looks in semi-disbelief at the blonde, “To you?” Regina chuckled and looked down at the book. After a beat, she let out another large breath. “Okay, Savior. Do you think that people can change?”  
  
Emma let out a low whistle, “Phew. Well. That’s a loaded question… hmm… I think yes and no.” She looked at the brunette and knew she was talking about herself. Emma had seen definite change in Regina. There was a fundamental shift in the way that she was doing things, but there were still times where Regina’s impulse and entitled spoiled only child came out.  
  
Regina was annoyed with Emma’s answer. “Well, thanks, that doesn’t help me much.” Regina rolled her eyes and then stares off into space.

  
Emma came in quick to rectify herself, “Let me explain, Regina. I believe that changing requires a great deal of conscious effort, and that it is a long term goal. It takes a great deal of self awareness to do the things that go against your natural instinct.” She bit her lip, hoping that Regina wouldn’t take too much offense to it. When her expression didn’t change, Emma continued. “However, I do believe that if you are actively thinking about why you do the things you do, that you can learn how to respond in the way that you would like to. Most people think of change in a very simplistic way, like, you decide one day to be good and from there on out you are. But it is like an addict, you have to take it each day at a time. It is all relative, but small progress is still progress.” She hoped that her answer was satisfactory.  
  
Regina was not in a good mood. “Well,” she hissed, “The damn Author does not seem to have any interest in helping me.”  
  
“I’ll help you.” Emma offered, “Although, you seem to have done a pretty good job of helping yourself, so far.” She chuckled as she pointed at the papers strewn about the Mayor’s usually tidy desk.  
  
“I don’t need your validation, Miss Swan. Obviously, I am just trying to be the person that Henry wants me to be.” She said as she looked at the book that Mary Margaret had gifted her son.  
  
Emma put her hands up in surrender by her shoulders. “I wasn’t trying to patronize you or give you any validation, Madame Mayor.” She said. “All I was trying to say is that you control your own destiny. All of the change that you have made, that’s been you, Regina, not some fabled all-seeing author. It was all you.”  
  
Emma clasped Regina’s hand in between both of hers. Regina tried to pull away, but Emma would not let her. Emma gave her a knowing smile, and Regina flashed a smirk back to her, with a glint of mischievousness in her eye. “See? It really isn’t that hard.” Emma said happily, “You have let me in, well, at least sort of. I believe in you. I believe that you will get your happy ending, and I promise to do all that I can to help you get it.”  
  
Regina pulled her lips into a tight slightly upturned smile. “I guess that it is nice to have a friend… for so long my only “friend” was Rumple.” She lowered her gaze, “But when it came down to it, I was mostly just a pawn in his game.”  
  
Emma’s heart broke as she heard Regina’s small admission. “Regina, we share a son. We have a connection that is deeper than friends, don’t you feel it?” Emma waited for Regina to turn her large brown eyes back up at her. She really did care for Regina, and it was hard to see her being so self-deprecating, even if that was one of the main facets that her personality was based off of.  
  
Emma moved closer to Regina, and they could both feel the tension in the air. Regina looked at Emma’s lips, which were slightly damp from her pressing them against her tongue to wet them, and then she met those beautiful sea colored eyes. Just as the women started to lean in to each other, they heard Henry’s voice from down the hall.  
  
“Moms??” Henry called out from far away. 

 

Regina hated it when he yelled instead of picking himself up and finding her, but in this case, she was relieved. There was an electrifying tension in the air, and she wanted to share it with just Emma. Regina and Emma drop hands and Emma poked her head out of the doorway of the study and raises her voice, “We are in here!”  
  
Henry continued to project his voice loudly from his room, “Can I go to see David?” He asked. “He said that he got me a real sword to practice with and I want to check it out! I don’t have any homework!”  
  
Emma turned to look at Regina, giving her the authority to make the decision about their son’s request. Regina shrugged as if to say, “What the hell? Let him go.”  
  
Emma turned her body back to the hall and called to Henry, projecting her voice. “Alright, kid, I’ll be down in a minute to walk you there.” Emma then turned to face Regina, who had crossed the room and was surprisingly close to her. “Well, I hope I helped, instead of being a distraction. I just hadn’t seen you in a couple of days and wanted to check in.” Regina simply looked her up and down with no response.  
  
Because of this, Emma didn’t expect to get one at all. She suspected Regina may be mad at her, or feel embarrassed about what she was doing. Emma pivoted on her heels, and right before she could take a step out of the room, she heard a, “WHAP!” and felt a stinging on her butt cheek. Emma looked over her shoulder at Regina, stunned that the Queen just smacked her ass. With a wink, Regina said in a sultry voice, “See you around, Miss Swan.”  
  


 


	13. I Hope You’re Worth The Wait Around (If I’m Not, I Understand)

Regina was trying to drown her sorrows in a bottle of Jack. That day had easily been in one of her Top Ten Most Shitty Days. She had already given up hope on her and Robin ever becoming an actual relationship long before having to say goodbye to him. That day, watching him vanish over the town line, it felt like she had failed. She had given up. She admitted defeat in her quest for a happy ending. She had tried taking it and she had tried earning it, but neither way seemed to have any progress for her. 

 

She had asked Granny to pour some Jack and Coke into a coffee cup, so she wouldn’t look as weak as she felt, getting drunk in the middle of the week, in public, like this. It wasn’t her style to be seen vulnerable, but she didn’t really want to be alone at the moment, and Granny’s was always a place where she felt like she could come in and be in charge. Nobody fucked with her in Granny’s. 

 

That was except for that bouncing blonde who had no regards for her personal space. Regina groaned as she saw her walk into the diner. She knew Emma Swan, the Savior, couldn’t help herself but to come meddle in Regina’s life. She took after her mother in that regard. Regina rolled her eyes, “I guess genetics does factor in sometimes.” She thought to herself. She had always been on the nurture side of the nature or nurture debate, but the more that she hung out with the Charming clan, the more she realized that they all had in common. Including her son. She was secretly scared that Henry would still choose them over her if it came down to it. 

  
Emma walked right up to her. She eagerly waiting for affirmation from the brunette. She stood there, within inches of Regina. So close the the Mayor could feel her body heat. Regina looked at the counter. “I'm not in the mood for a hope speech, Emma.” she said dryly.  
  
Emma chuckled, “You're mistaking me for my mother.” She tucked a blonde curl behind her ear and looked at the Mayor, “Besides, you don't need a speech. You need a drinking buddy. Shots?” she offered as she sat down on the barstool right next to her.  
  
Regina was surprised by the offer, but agreed, because then, at least, she wasn’t drinking alone. “Sure. Why not?” She gave Emma a thoughtful look. What was she after? Regina thought to herself. She still didn’t trust the blonde’s intentions fully, because well, Regina didn’t think that Emma could ever truly forgive her. Regina hadn’t ever been able to forgive herself. 

  
Emma signaled to the waitress, “Two.” Then, she looked back at Regina. “You know you did the right thing today.” She said, trying to break the ice. Emma bit her lip during the silence that followed. Maybe she shouldn’t have brought it up. It was hard not to though, because Regina’s face was full of regret and pain. Emma wanted to make that go away. 

  
Regina threw her hands in the air, “There it is... A hope speech. I thought we were drinking.” She had already had two drinks, and was starting to get sassy. She could feel the liquid courage in her veins and knew that she was going to test the blonde that night. 

 

Emma shrugged, “It's not a speech. It's a compliment.” She looked at Regina, with her long eyelashes, and the Savior’s heart fluttered. She didn’t know when she had developed this pining for her, but she suspected it may have been there all along. Ever since she rolled up at the mansion with Henry to introduce them, she could feel the intoxication of Regina’s presence. That is probably what got the brunette so far in life, Emma thought. There are certain people who just make you want to shut up and say, “Yes, ma’am.”

  
Regina straightened her posture. Even though she was a little tipsy, she could see the way that Emma was looking at her. She put on her resting bitch face and responded, “Well, as I have said before, I don't need your validation. I know I did the right thing. I know because I'm miserable... Again.” Regina looked down at the two shots being served to them. She had been a little more honest than she meant to be, but Emma made her feel comfortable, and she felt like it was going to be okay. 

  
Emma grabbed her shot of whiskey and brought it closer to her. “If it makes you feel any better, so is Gold.” She offered.  
  
Regina smiled, “It does.” The two women clinked glasses with a, “Salud,” and swallowed the shot. 

 

Emma held back a grimace and started, “So,” she turned her body to be angled toward Regina’s such that she is looking in her face while they sit side by side. “So, do you want to hear something crazy?” Emma didn’t really know why she was about to open up to this woman who secretly made her knees go weak, but she couldn’t help herself. 

  
Regina pursed her lips, and said, “Sure” but it sounds more like “shore.” She surveyed the blonde up and down, drinking in her curves as her heart pumped the third round of liquor through her body. Her cheeks were starting to feel a little hot, as well as there tips of her ears. 

  
Emma looked at the counter and picked at her thumb, “Hook just kissed me.” She continued to stare at her digit, nervous to find out what Regina’s reaction to that might be. Sure, everyone in town knew that Hook has his eye on her. That he wanted her. But there was something about him that didn’t get Emma riled up. Not like the Queen could. Emma was testing the waters, but she didn’t know if Regina knew that. 

  
“Wow, again?” She said with raised eyebrows. She steeled her expression to not let her further disappointment show. 

  
“Yup…” Emma squeezed her lips together and pressed her tongue on the roof of her mouth because she felt awkward admitting it to the one that she would rather be kissing.  
  
Regina let out a forced laugh. “Well, in that case, we should get two more shots. Alcohol is a disinfectant, right?” Regina smiled and nudged Emma playfully with her elbow.  
  
The blonde behind the counter pour two more shots of whiskey, then handed them to the women. They cheers their glasses again, and throw the shot back. Both of them tried to play the “Who Is Cooler” game and didn’t grimace or anything with the warm liquid coating the back of their throats.  
  
Regina, obviously not wanting to talk about Hook’s escapades, brashly asked Emma, “So… did you like it?”  
through a strained voice. 

  
Emma smiled, ordered a water, and looked in Regina’s beautiful, deep eyes, “I mean, it was nice, but. I’ve also had better.” she said humbly as she shrugged her shoulder off and darted a quick glance at the brunette through the corner of her eye. 

  
Regina quickly smirked at herself and lazily traced the rim of the coffee mug that was still in front of her, “Well, what are your intentions, Miss Swan?” She coyly asked.  
  
“My intentions are to get pretty drunk tonight and not let him think that he has any kind of hold on me.” Emma looked Regina in the eye, mesmerized by her, “What are yours, Madame Mayor?” Emma challenged as she accidentally-on purpose placed her knee against the brunettes to see how much she could get away with.  
  
Regina felt Emma and did not shy away, “Touché, I think we both could use some more alcohol after a day like today.” She enjoyed the pressure of Emma’s knee on hers in such a public place. 

  
“Definitely,” agreed Emma, as she searched around for a bartender, “Hey, Ruby! Can we get a round of appletinis over here, please?!”  
  
Ruby made her way back behind the bar, “Of course, ladies!” She said with a subtle wink at Regina. Ruby collected the ingredients and supplies for the appletinis. She filled the shaker with ice and grabbed the jigger to measure the ingredients in a fluid motion.  
  
“Now you’re talking, Swan,” Regina approved of the cocktail choice.  
  
“I can remember a thing or two. When it comes to important people,” Emma stated, and with a tease, added “You don’t do rum, though, right?”  
  
With a chuckle, Regina retorted, “Only when it is served warm by a brash pirate,” and gave Emma a look out of the corner of her eye as she tried to gauge the Savior’s reaction to her jest. Emma simply had a small smirk and was watching Ruby pour the drinks into their fancy glasses. 

  
Ruby came toward them with two very full drinks. “Order up!” She chimed. She placed two cocktail napkins down, then the martini glasses on top of them, in front of the women.  
  
Emma reached out for her glass first and brought it to her lips. “Mm,” she mused, “I’m not usually one for frills, but this is damn delicious!”  
  
Regina took a large sip of hers with her eyes closed, enjoying the taste of her favorite cocktail, and preparing to tease Emma again. “Of course it is, Ruby knows just the way that I like things.” Emma raised her eyebrow at Regina, indicating that she would like to know more about what she just said. Regina spun her chair so that her knee slowly and deliberately drug up Emma’s thigh, and she leaned in so her lips were almost touching the blonde’s ear as she spoke. 

 

She said her words slowly, so that Emma would hear every single one of them and their intent, “I've been alive a long time, Miss Swan. Do you really think that you are the first woman that I have been with?” Regina smirked, waiting for Emma’s reaction. It was just what the Queen had expected. Emma’s face flushed, her grip on her drink tightened, and the blonde looked between the two dark haired women in a little bit of disbelief. But mostly, she looked at Ruby with a lot of jealousy. She had wondered if Regina had been with other women before, but Emma hadn’t expected it to be someone so close to home.  
  
Under her breath, the Savior murmured, “Well, if you had let me, I could have known what you liked…”  
it was obvious from her tone that she was still salty about having to finish herself in the front seat of her bug. 

  
The Queen straightened herself out, “Did you know that I like a nice whiskey?” She asked. “I just happen to have a bottle of MaCallan 18 in my office..” Regina quickly and gracefully finished the last of her cocktail.   
Martinis were tricky because the first couple sips never seemed to make a dent in it but the last couple always went too quickly. The cloud of alcohol was starting to make its way through the brunette’s bloodstream and made her even more daring than she normally was. This offer was a challenge for Emma Swan, one that Regina knew she wouldn’t let slip through her nimble little fingers. 

 

Taking the Queen’s hastfulness of finishing her drink at the bar as a que, Emma finished her drink in a couple of unceremonious gulps. “Well, it would be a damn shame for it to just sit there, seeing as how I also enjoy a nice whiskey,” she suggested. Emma took her wallet out of her back pocket, threw a fifty on the bar, and stood up. “So, do you want to walk me there, or should I just break in?” She teased.  
  
“Well, I would hate to have to repaint, so I guess means that I had better escort you,” the Mayor announced, pleased that her hastily drawn together scheme was coming in fruition. She had had a shitty day and needed to let it be fucked out of her. Hard. She wanted to be sore tomorrow. “Make the outside hurt so the inside doesn’t have to,” was a mantra that was all too familiar to her. 

  
The two women left Granny’s together and made their way to City Hall. Every couple paces, one of them would lightly bump into the other one. The stolen touches brought smiles to their faces as they meandered towards Regina’s office. It was easy. They were talking lightly about nothing, simply enjoying each other’s company through the desolate weeknight streets of Storybrooke. 

 

As they got close enough to see the building in the distance, the drinks that they had consumed started to kick in. Regina reached for her keys but fumbled and dropped them. She giggled picking them up, “I swear I’m not a lightweight,” she promised as she encouraged them through the lock on the front door. 

  
“We will see about that,” Emma challenged, and followed the Queen through the door frame.    



	14. I’m Not Afraid of Heights, They Always Make Me Feel Like I’m Alive

The two beautiful women walked into the Mayor’s office, and Regina reached for the light switch. “No need for that,” Emma says, as she conjured up a fireball and threw it into the fireplace along the adjacent wall. The flame roared to life and filled up the fire place. The hearth warmed almost instantly and the flickering light danced upon the statue of Regina’s beloved horse. Emma was engrossed in the beauty of it for a moment, but was dictated by the rustling behind her, She turned around to see Regina pouring the drinks into old fashioned glasses. “You taught me that,” the Savior said proudly, as she nodded her head towards the mantle. Regina narrowed her eyes to look at the blonde while she took a sip of her whiskey. 

 

Emma walked over to her, took the cup out of her left hand, and then grabbed the Queen’s hand and lead her to the couch in front of the crackling warmth. “What else can you teach me?” Emma playfully teased. They both took a seat on the couch, closer than they would have been if there were other people in the room, but not touching. Regina conjured some coasters and set her drink down on one before she looked back at the blonde with hooded lustful eyes and purred, “It depends on what you want to learn, Miss Swan.”  
  
Emma took a large swig of the straight liquor, about half of what was left in her glass, in an effort to calm the butterflies that were pitter-pattering through her stomach. When she set the glass down, she placed her hand on Regina’s thigh, and felt the tight lace of her black nylons. 

 

“Teach me how to please you, your Majesty.” She summoned the strength to say. She had fantasized about this moment too many times to let it slip through her fingers.

 

This bold statement had made Regina bite her bottom lip. Mm. The jealousy thing had worked. The Mayor could tell that her Sheriff didn’t like the thought of Ruby learning her ways around before her. There was nothing hotter to Regina than a willing submissive sexual partner. Maybe it was losing Robin to his wife, maybe it was the liquor- most likely a combination of those both- but Regina’s animal instincts were telling her that she needed to be fucked. 

 

In a quick, graceful, fluid motion, she straddled the blonde. Regina placed her hands on top of Emma’s and guided them to her ass, where she curled her fingers, insisting that Emma take ahold and squeeze. “I like a good sub,” Regina affirmed, “So tell me, Miss Swan,” Emma’s hips bucked at hearing Regina’s deep voice muse her name, the Queen noticed, and rewarded her with the rocking of her hips over the blonde’s while she continued, “Will you do what I say, when I say it?” Regina locked eyes with Emma, never falling out of rhythm with the rolling of her hips.  
  
Emma exhaled, feeling the Queen on her had heightened all of her arousal; her nipples had hardened, her toes curled- the moment she had wanted for so long was actually happening and she genuinely wanted to do whatever she could to make Regina feel good. “Yes, ma’am,” she agreed. Emma could feel Regina’s ass muscles in her small hands every time she rocked her hips towards her own. The rhythm of the woman on top of her was driving her wild. She was determined to prove her worth to Regina. She frantically nodded her head, hoping that Regina would allow her to continue.  
  
“Good girl, Emma. For that, you will be rewarded.” Regina grabbed the lapels of Emma’s leather jacket and started to slide it off of her shoulders. As the jacket was leaving her body, Emma lifted her chin up, and exposed her neck in the process. Regina leaned down and kissed it softly a few times, working her way up to Emma’s face. The brunette wrapped her pouty lips against the pulse point on Emma’s throat and sucked on it gently. With an approving moan, she sank her teeth in, just hard enough to leave little indents for tonight, but it would be their secret in the morning. She kissed Emma’s ear, then her forehead. Then, she leaned her forehead against Emma’s, closed her eyes, inhaled with her whole chest as to fluster her subordinate, and said, “Kiss me, Miss Swan.”  
  
Emma did. She met the Queen’s lips with fervor, enjoying and appreciating the feeling of those beautiful soft lips running over her own. Kissing Regina was like setting a forest fire in her body; just the slightest pressure against her skin sent shockwaves of arousal throughout her body. She could kiss her forever. She pulled Regina’s ass closer into her body and Regina pulled her face closer to hers. They were consumed with the passion behind the kiss. Emma pushed her tongue in between Regina’s lips to explore, but Regina pulled away.  
  
“No ma’am. I did not say that you could do that yet.” Regina shook her finger at her playfully. From the glint of mischief in her eye, Emma could tell that she was going to pay for her eagerness. “Show me that you can listen. Lay me down on the couch,” the Queen instructed.  
  
Emma held Regina by the small of her back in one hand, and behind her head with the other. She rolled the Queen off of her straddling position into a nice reclined position on the couch with pillows behind her back. The Queen was wearing a purple sweater, with a black skirt, black tights, and black heels. She bent her knee so that her leg closest to the back of the couch was at a ninety degree angle with her heel on the cushion. Emma drank in the view. She couldn’t see her panties quite yet, but the way that the shadow cast from her skirt to her bent leg was driving Emma wild. Her fingers itched at the thought of ripping her skirt off. She needed to lighten the mood before she was overcome with lust and did something brash.  
  
“Are you going to ask me to paint you like one of my French girls?” Emma laughed to herself, forgetting that Regina still hadn’t seen _Titanic_.  
  
“No, but you are going to take off my shirt and my skirt, and nothing else,” Regina instructed to her sub with a slightly evil grin.

  
With eager anticipation, Emma peeled the deep purple shirt off of Regina’s torso, pulled her arms out of the sleeves, and threw the shirt into a crumple on the ground. Regina was wearing a black floral lace bra underneath that perfectly cupped her supple breasts. Unfortunately, the bra was not see through, though. Emma traveled her fingers down Regina’s flat stomach and reached the waistband of her skirt. Trembling, she fumbled with the button. She attempted to steady her breath as to not let Regina know how nervous and excited she was about what was about to happen. She caught a little smile from Regina, though, and Emma realized that the Queen probably already knew exactly how she felt. Emma carefully pushed the button through the hole, then slowly unzipped the zipper on the tight black skirt. She savored every click of the teeth releasing as it went down. Regina lifted her hips to help Emma pull the skirt down around her knees, then her ankles, and around her heels, until it joined her shirt on the floor in a heap.  
  
Emma wanted to remember everything about his moment; the warmth and crackling of the fire, how she felt, and how fucking amazing Regina looked nearly naked. Her eyes trailed from Regina’s heels which seemed to give her her feminine sexuality, up her nylon covered legs, to the apex of her thighs, where she could now see through those sheer tights that the Queen was wearing a black lace thong that matched her bra. Emma stopped her gaze there for a moment and licked her bottom lip when she noticed the little wet mess in between the Queen’s thighs, confirming that she wanted this just as badly. Emma’s eyes trailed up her torso, savoring every curve, along her neck, and finally, into the hooded brown eyes that were looking back at her lustfully.  
  
Regina reached forward towards Emma’s face and rested the tips of her four fingers on the Savior’s cheek, marveling at how beautiful this woman in front of her was. It almost felt like fate, the two of them together, Henry’s moms united, the thought fleeted through the Queen’s mind. She traced her thumb along Emma’s bottom lip. To the Queen’s surprise, on the second pass, Emma grabbed her thumb with her teeth and ran her tongue along it, then quickly and playfully sucked on it. This made Regina’s hips shift and her pussy clench. Nobody had ever done that to the Queen before, so she didn’t even know that she had liked that feeling. “Maybe Emma would teach me a few things today, too,” Regina thought to herself as she felt the arousal in her panties.  
  
“Remove your pants and your shoes, and then do that to my nipples.” Regina ordered. Emma’s eyes widened in excitement, and she hurriedly stood up and removed what the Queen had ordered. She finished her glass of whiskey for a boost of confidence, then lowered herself on top of Regina, eagerly kissing all over the exposed part of her chest.  
  
Emma gently pulled the black fabric to the side of Regina’s right breast, revealing her hard dark nipple. Without hesitation, Emma latched on to it. Squeezing her other breast with her right hand, Emma used her tongue to play with Regina’s perfect little nipple. She twirled it around her mouth, sucking on it every time her tongue came around to the bottom. She caught it with her teeth on the next go around, and gave a tender tug. This released a deep moan from the Queen. Emma switched nipples to even out her desires. She sucked as much of Regina’s breast that could fit in her mouth, and then slowly released it until she was just on the brink of the tip of her nipple. She alternated between long, slow pulls of her nipple in her mouth with short, fast bursts of her tongue flicking against the hard little nub. 

  
Regina loved the attention that she was getting. She loved the feeling of a lover on her nipples, with each stroke of their tongue, she could feel the waves of heat going through her clit. At first, she was embarrassed by how wet she already was, but the Savior was earning her keep with each flash of teeth and tongue on her breast. She was good at making sure both sides were stimulated. Every now and then, Regina would feel Emma’s breast brush against her pelvis or lower stomach as she was sucking her nipples and the light contact would send a pulse to her pussy,  making her even more ready to be taken.

  
“That feels really good, Miss Swan,” Regina encouraged, “You’ve been wanting this for a while, haven’t you?”  
  
“Mmhmm,” Emma affirmed, not daring to break the connection between their skin in fear that Regina may cut her off.  
  
“I wanted you to do this to me in the vault, but was too tied up with the implications of it. I should have, though, because I didn’t realize that this is what I was missing out on,” Regina admitted. “You can explore my body how you would like, now, but you can’t remove any other pieces of clothing, yet,” the Queen finished with a wink.  
  
The permission she was granted made Emma’s heart beat out of her chest. She bit her lip as she scanned the Queen’s body, not sure of where to start. There were so many things that she wanted to do to Regina, but mostly, she wanted to remember this all when the haze of the alcohol faded away. Regina trusted her enough to touch her without being instructed and the thought of this sent Emma reeling. It was amazing how much control she could have over the Savior even when she didn’t hold her heart in her hand. Emma wanted to go straight for the gold, but she knew that what she did next was a test by the Queen and Emma didn’t want to push her luck.  
  
Emma sat up, kneeling with the heels of her feet tucked under her ass. She took Regina’s leg that was closer to their drinks in her hands, and delicately ran her fingers down it, until she reached those sexy, strappy black heels. She brought her face near her leg and kissed Regina’s toes through the nylons. She worked her way up Regina’s foot, placing soft little kisses on the top of it until she reached her ankle. The sheer fabric provided a maddening barrier between Emma and the Queen’s supple skin, but Emma knew it would all be over in a second if she tried to break through it. So, she drug her lips up the back of the brunette’s gorgeously toned calf muscle. When she got to her knee, Emma made eye contact with Regina, and with a smirk, she playfully bit the inside of her thigh. She started near her knee, then one more a little bit higher, then another one a little bit higher than that. Emma was closer to Regina’s pussy than she ever thought she could be. The air was intoxicating. Unable to control herself any longer, Emma dove her face into the apex of Regina’s thighs, and breathed in her smell. Oh, how she just wanted to taste the Queen.  
  
The unexpected usurpation of power by the Savior caught Regina off guard. As much as she wanted to punish Emma for not being able to control herself, Regina admitted in her head that she was ready to be taken. The blonde kissing and nipping through her tights and panties had intensified her need to feel her.  
  
“Bring your mouth back up to my nipples,” Regina desperately demanded.  
  
Emma did not want to be distracted from finally getting what she wanted more than anything in that moment, but she knew that she had agreed to follow the Queen’s commands. Because of this, and fear of punishment, she lifted her head back to those beautiful dark nipples.  
  
“Glad to see that you have regained your control, Miss Swan,” Regina congratulated, “As a reward, you can rip my tights and touch me with your fingers, as long as your mouth stays on my chest or neck,” she finished, with a glint in her eye.  
  
Emma grabbed two fistfuls of the thin fabric and pulled them apart with vigor. The delightful tear exposed the Queen’s absolutely drenched pussy. Shifting her weight, Emma could feel a fresh pool of wetness come between her thighs. She leaned down, with her left hand grabbing Regina’s right breast, her blonde hair cascading over her shoulders and onto the Queen’s body, and enclosed her mouth around her lovely little hard nipple. With her right hand, she pulled Regina’s black thong to the side, and finally got to touch the Queen. Emma’s hand started near her vagina, collected some wetness, then slowly travelled up the Queen’s lips, to the bundle of nerves at the top. Nervous about pleasing her right, Emma tried to remember how she pleased herself, and tried to replicate that on the Queen’s pussy while sucking on her nipple. She used her index and middle finger to circle the Queen’s clit and got a low moan in response. She was on the right track. She kept rubbing Regina’s slick pussy and sucking on her nipples, she wanted to make sure she was ready for her.  
  
Emma was making Regina sweat. She loved the power she had taking on a new lover. As Emma stroked the most intimate part of her, Regina rolled her hips. She took every wave of pleasure with grace, but she needed more. With her right hand, Regina grabbed a fistful of Emma’s blonde hair, and pulled her face up towards hers. She took Emma in a deep and passionate kiss. Their tongues rolled and danced; they were truly exploring each other. Regina took Emma’s hand and pushed her fingers inside of her. “Mm, just what I needed,” the regal brunette thought to herself as she rode the blonde’s hand. The way Emma’s thumb was curled perfectly hit the Queen’s clit as she rocked her hips and brought Emma in deeper. It felt so good, Regina knew she couldn’t keep herself from giving in much longer.  
  
Emma was caught off guard when Regina grabbed her wrist and forced her inside the Queen, but she took to her new role quickly. She plunged her fingers into the beautiful brunette and relished the feeling of liquid heat around them. As her pace quickened, she curled her two fingers up to stroke the back base for Regina’s clit. This slight change released a deep moan from the Queen, and Emma knew that she was on the right track. Emma was glad to be pleasing the older woman’s needs, and if the sopping mess between them was any indication, she was quite good at it. She continued thrusting her finger deep inside and enjoyed every sound that was made by her doing so.  
  
Regina loved being slow and deliberate with her lovers, but what had been brewing between the women had been a long time coming, and she wanted to reach her peak. “Put your mouth on me, Miss Swan,” Regina instructed while she slightly pushed Emma’s head toward her thighs.  
  
“Yes! Finally the Golden Ticket,” Emma thought to herself as she move her face toward what she had been thinking about all night.  
  
Emma pulled the black lace to the side and gently kissed each of Regina’s lower lips. This made the Queen shutter in anticipation. Emma stuck her tongue out flat and licked from the bottom of her wet hole to the pretty little bud at the top. She loved the way the brunette tasted. She closed her lips around Regina’s clit and flicked her tongue against it. She drew little circles around her clit with the point of her tongue, then flattened it so she could run the whole length of it against Regina.  
  
Regina shivered. Emma was much better than she expected, and she was making way on getting the Queen close to cumming. With the blonde’s fingers inside of her and her mouth on her, Regina could feel the heat brewing in her stomach. Emma’s pace quickened and Regina’s toes curled, she could feel the beginning of her orgasm.  
  
Emma felt Regina bucking underneath her. She was writhing with every pump of her arm. She kept plunging her two fingers into the Queen and narrowed the area her tongue was reaching, so she was flicking and swirling her tongue right on Regina’s bud of pleasure. Emma was so consumed with making Regina feel good that the clamping of her pussy around her finger suggesting the start of the Queen’s orgasm kind of disappointed her, but she knew she wanted to finish strong. She fucked the brunette until her pussy spasmed.  
  
Regina gripped the couch they were on and cried out. Yes, this was it. All of the tension between them finally released. Her forehead covered with a light layer of glistening sweat, she rode the waves of the peak of her arousal. When it had passed, she smiled and let out a soft, “Mmm…”  
  
Emma slowly removed her fingers from the Queen. She licked Regina, cleaning her up, and each time she made contact with Regina’s body, she popped her hips up, feeling the sensitive post-orgasm sensations. When the wetness had been cleaned from her pussy, Emma sucked her two fingers clean and looked Regina in the eye. “I just needed one last taste of you,” the blonde said lustfully.  
  
“You did good, Miss Swan,” Regina encouraged as she reached toward the Savior, “Maybe next time, I’ll have to go down on you to show my appreciation,” the Queen finished as she playfully stroked Emma’s clit through her panties.  
  
As much as Emma wanted to get fucked tonight, she knew that this was about Regina testing her self control, so she knew not to try to pull any moves out on the regal brunette.  
  


“Bend over the arm of the couch,” Regina instructed. 

 

Emma did as she was told. She gripped the tight cloth of the couch’s arm as her pussy gripped at nothing while her ass stuck in the air. 

 

Regina looked at Emma’s sweet asscheeks peeking out of her panties and smiled. She was going to turn them a beautiful shade of red. She noticed Emma grind her hips against a pillow that was between her and the armrest. She continued to hold her wicked grin as she informed Emma of her rulebreaking, “No, ma’am,” she said with a swift swat from her hand to Emma’s ass, “You don’t get to move or have any release tonight. Tonight is all about showing you can listen to me.” Regina said with another slap across the other cheek. 

 

Emma never knew how much being put in her place would turn her on. Regina telling her what she could and couldn’t do just made between her legs ache. She dug her nails into the couch. At least before, she could distract herself by giving Regina pleasure. But, right now, she was being tested. Her pussy throbbed as Regina landed another blow on her ass cheek and then ran her nails delicately over the slightly raised pink skin. Her pussy clenched and sent a wave of arousal down her thigh. 

 

Regina saw it immediately. The shimmer of wetness running down the back of Emma’s thigh made it clear to her that she was going to continue to follow her instructions and play along in her game. She bent down and slowly drug her tongue up the trail of wetness on the delicate skin of the blonde’s thigh. 

 

The feeling of Regina’s warm tongue so close to her pussy was madenning. Emma squeezed her eyes shut tight and gripped the couch as hard as she could to avoid bucking all over Regina’s face and ending their play. She tried to control her breathing as Regina’s tongue slid from her thigh to the crease where her ass and her thigh met. She held her breath as Regina slowly and deliberately drug her tongue closer and closer to her center. She drug it right to the edge of her panties outside of her vagina and stopped. Regina bit the fabric and tugged it a bit before letting it snap back to Emma’s skin and straightening her posture. 

 

Regina could see the crazed look in Emma’s eye as she turned around to look at her. It was almost as is she forbade her from stopping. “What is that look for, Miss Swan?” She asked.

 

“Nothing, Madame Mayor,” She said, snapping back into her submissive role. 

 

“Better not be,” Regina demanded as she grabbed the back of Emma’s head by her hair. She lead her to a standing position by the edge of the couch. Regina was facing Emma and she drank in her beauty. She brought Emma’s face towards hers and met her lips. 

 

Emma raised her hands to hold Regina’s face as she kissed her. Regina was so soft, yet so powerful. The contradiction was intoxicating and arousing. She kissed her passionately, because she wanted Regina to know how she would do anything to make her feel good. She was there for her tonight. 

 

Regina bit Emma’s bottom lip, perhaps a little too hard, and received a small whimper. Hearing Emma make any sort of noise like that sent heat rushing through her veins. She felt the pulsing in between her legs and knew she needed to be taken again. She broke the kiss and rested her head against Emma’s. 

 

Emma looked into Regina’s eyes. They were hooded and full of desire. She knew that she needed something. “What would you like me to do, Madame Mayor?” Emma asked with lust in her voice. In response she felt a sharp pain on the back of her head and realized she was being drug to her knees. 

 

From her knees, she looked at this beautiful and powerful woman who could control her with a look or the way that she said her name. She was standing, braless, with her black heels and black tights with the tear in the crotch and the black lace thong. Emma felt her heartbeat quicken. She was absolutely regal and powerful and everything Emma wanted in that moment. She didn’t think about how pathetic she must look, crumpled on her knees, with Regina’s hand controlling her head with her hand in her messy blonde curls. All she could think about was how gorgeous Regina looked. 

 

“Eat it.” Regina demanded, seeing that Emma had drifted off into space. 

 

The command snapped her back to life as Regina pulled her head toward her pelvis. Emma tore the tights even more to give her more freedom in her new position. She pulled the Mayor’s panties to the side and stuck her tongue in her slit, grazing the bottom of her clit and pushing through her folds. She felt the light prickle of Regina’s little hairs on the side of her mouth, which encouraged her to keep bobbing her head with her tongue against the smooth lower skin.

 

“Ahh,” Regina said as she pushed Emma’s head closer to her body. 

 

The moan ignited something in Emma that made her want to hear more. She eagerly licked and sucked at Regina’s clit, hoping that she would be able to get her to climax a second time that night. Emma gripped Regina’s ass and pulled her closer, trying to taste all of her. Regina balanced herself holding onto Emma’s head and strong shoulders. 

 

Regina had noticed how strong Emma’s arms were back in Neverland but now that she was topless, holy shit, Emma looked like a Greek statue. She was all muscles and the sight of it was bringing Regina closer to her peak. Regina lightly traced her fingers over the back of Emma’s arm and shuddered when she felt her strong tricep, flexed as she was holding onto her ass. 

 

Emma could feel Regina looking at her back and she was feeling pretty cocky, so she decided to show her how strong she was. She pulled Regina’s thighs over her shoulders and continued to eat her out right there in the middle of the room, on her knees, with no support. 

 

Regina bucked her hips forward at the realization of how much back and core strength Emma must have to do this when she felt the initial waves of heat in her lower stomach. “Go in me.” She demanded. 

 

Emma immediately complied. She shoved two fingers inside of Regina’s comply soaked pussy and when she realized that she could take more, she added a third. Regina was riding her fingers, holding onto her head, and trying to keep from crying out. 

 

Regina felt the heat grow inside of her and was insanely riding and bucking against Emma’s fingers and tongue. She had never had an orgasm come on this long and this strong before. When it finally hit her, it shook her the whole way through. 

 

Emma felt Regina’s pussy begin to tighten and loosen rapidly around her fingers and she knew that she was coming. She bobbed her head back and forth repeatedly, sucking every last bit of her orgasm out. When she felt Regina’s body begin to relax, she shuffled on her knees to the couch, and laid her on it. She kissed Regina’s pretty little swollen clit and slowly removed her three fingers. 

 

Regina’s pussy grabbed at the air once Emma’s fingers left it. It did again as the Mayor watched her lick the remaining wetness from her fingers. Emma Swan was something else. 

  
“You’ve proven to be a formidable partner,” Regina teased as she put her skirt back on, “Tonight isn’t going to leave my thoughts for a while,” she finished as she put her shirt over her head and pulled it down over her.  
  
“It definitely will be on mine for a while tonight,” Emma said, realizing that the pulsating bud in between her legs would have to be taken care of in her bed later.  
  


Regina was shuffling about in a way that let Emma know that just as quickly as it had started, that their play time was over. 

  
“It’s late,” Regina started. She walked up to Emma and wrapped her arms around her waist. She leaned in to meet the blonde’s lips for a firm kiss that reeked of goodbye. “You can see yourself out. Thank you for tonight, Miss Swan.”  
  
“Any time, Madame Mayor,” Emma replied.  
  
With a flick of her wrist and a cloud of purple smoke, Regina was gone. Head spinning from the alcohol and from what just happened, Emma finished Regina’s drink, dressed herself, and walked towards the door. With a heavy sigh, she closed it behind her. Tonight was the night she had been waiting for, but she would have to deal with the implications in the morning.


	15. I’m Well Endowed With All the Doubt I Need

Regina had slept better that night than she had in a long time. She had forgotten how hard she would sleep after she had an orgasm. Her alarm went off all too soon at 6 a.m., forcing her back into reality as she trudged through her morning routine. She brushed her teeth while she waited for the shower to heat up. Flashes of memories from the night before hid behind her eyelids.

 

She noticed the steam pouring over the door of her shower, took off her black nightie and underwear, and stepped into the stream of water. She always liked her showers a little too hot, she liked the warmth when her skin was pink all over and the way she would get slightly light headed. The red lines from the hot water rolling down her breasts made her ache for there to be scratches there instead. But, they weren’t anything to each other, so they wouldn’t leave any marks to claim each other. Indoor plumbing had definitely been a bonus of Storybrooke. She washed her hair and face, then reached for the bar of soap. A fleeting sadness passed through her as she washed the remainder of Emma away. 

 

Regina went through the rest of her morning routine in a fog. Memories from the night before would creep into her brain, and she would banish them before she could start to feel the nervous and excited feeling in her stomach. She wasn’t going to let this be more than it was, just another power play for Regina to show Emma just how much control that she had. She once caught herself smiling and panicked, knowing that whatever was going to be the fallout from last night could determine a lot more than her life, but it could also affect her son’s life.

 

Regina made herself and Henry a typical school morning breakfast of plain oatmeal, topped with sliced strawberries and bananas. He ate quickly while talking about some presentation he was going to see at school that day, and before she knew it, he had left to get on the bus.

 

Alone in her house, she used magic to clean and put up their dishes, and got in her car to go back to her office at City Hall for a much less fun time than the night she had before. _ Maps _ by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was playing on the radio, and Regina sang along, “ _ Hey, they don’t love you like I love you..” _ After the song was over, she pulled into the reserved Mayor parking space and collected her things.

 

Upon opening the door, she saw the whiskey and the glasses still on the table from the night before. She scoffed and rolled her eyes. Regina didn’t know why she had expected the blonde to clean up after them when she left, seeing as how Emma was a mess in every other area of her life, but she honestly thought her office would be pristine this particular morning. “I guess two orgasms are the extent of Miss Swan’s generosity,” she thought to herself with a scoff.

 

Regina glanced around the office and grimaced. It still reeked of Snow White. With a hint of glee in her eyes, Regina conjured a fireball, and set the painting of two dainty little birds that Snow had put up in her office ablaze. She reveled in watching the canvas tear in flames until the whole thing was a little pile of ash on the floor. With a wave of her hand, the ash disappeared, and a new, simple black and white painting took its place.

 

“That’s better,” Regina thought to herself, “There’s still a bit more I need to do to reclaim my space, though.” Regina spent the better part of an hour reorganizing and redecorating her beloved birch bark office. When she was satisfied that things were back to the way that she had them before, she sat down at her desk.

 

Regina grabbed her large designer bag and placed it on top of her desk with a thud. She pulled Henry’s story book. She was determined to find a link to who the author might be or how to get in contact with him in the pages of the book, She read every word carefully, even the ones that described the horrifying things she did as the Evil Queen. She didn’t like reading these, but she felt like she owed it to every person that she made suffer to read their stories. It broke her heart. There were pages and pages filled with atrocities that she had committed. With all of this evidence stacked against her, who would ever believe that she had changed? And if they did, what would make them believe that she deserved a happy ending at all? The more pages she read, the more her hope started to fade. 

 

She was looking for any clue as to who would have known the entire story and be able to record it when Emma slipped in through her open office doors, unnoticed at first. 

 

Emma looked at Regina. She always thought that Regina looked the most beautiful when she didn’t know that anybody was watching her, so she soaked in the whole picture. Regina’s hair was down, falling in front of her shoulders and into her face a bit. Emma hadn’t really noticed how long it had gotten until then. It was so long and dark and beautiful that Emma had to resist the urge to walk up to her and start running her fingers through it. Her chin was rested on her left hand and her right hand paged back and forth. Regina’s face was very concentrated, with a hint of confusion and frustration. She looked beautiful like this, so Emma saved a mental snapshot, and proceeded further into the room.

 

Having no idea what to say about the previous night, but desperately wanting to see her again, Emma had picked up some food for them, so at least there would be something for them to do in the first post-coital visit. Emma sucked in some air, then asked, “How do you feel about kale salad?”

 

Regina didn’t miss a beat, and didn’t look up from the story book as she answered flatly, “Like someone found someplace other than Granny's for takeout.”

 

Emma shrugged it off. She had known that Regina was going to play tough and hard to get, even if Emma had secretly hoped for the opposite. She kept her voice casual and said, “I'm fine with her grilled cheese, but I know it gets to you.” This finally got Regina to look up.

 

Regina held eye contact with Emma to convey her disappointment when she said, “You eat like a child.” Now that she had taken her eyes off of the page, she was able to assess what all Emma was holding in her arms. “Is that a root beer?” Regina asked.

 

Emma grinned smugly and held out her offerings. “Two. I got you one,” Emma volunteered, “I thought you could use a break.”

 

Regina scoffed. As much as she was trying, Emma was not helping. Regina felt like she couldn’t take a break. Her quest for the Author’s identity had started to become obsessive. Regina held herself to a very high standard and she felt like she was not meeting it. She responded to Emma a little more angry than she should have, “A break from what? Dead end after dead end? This sorcerer... Or author... Whatever he wants to be called... Doesn't want to be found.”

 

Emma sighed. “It's only been a few weeks.”

 

Regina chuckled, Emma must not know her as well as she thinks, because of all the things Regina was, patient, especially with herself, was not one of them. “Exactly, and I've conquered entire realms in less time,” the Queen came out when she said it, but it felt good to remind Emma just who she was exactly.

 

Emma didn’t seem to be phased. “Can you conquer these bottles?” She questioned. “I thought they were twist-offs.” She admitted, as she tried one last time to untwist the cap.

 

Regina brushed her off, “Do I look like I can pry them off with my teeth? I'm a queen and a bit more refined.” Regina gloated as Emma started to move about her office.  
  
With a devilish grin, Emma replied, “Yeah, I got that. I would like to see what else you could do with your teeth,” Her eyes darted towards Regina to see if she would get a reaction out of that. When she didn’t, she moved on, “My mom had a bottle opener here during her brief tenure, somewhere…” Emma had wandered into the corner of Regina’s office. She began to slowly open a drawer that she suspected might have a bottle opener.  


Regina shot up out of her chair and said, “Wait! Don't…” But it was too late. Emma had already opened the drawer. In it was the picture that Robin had given her of them together, that night at the tavern, had Regina actually walked through that door. It had been ripped up and taped back together again, a fact that Regina really hoped Emma would not comment on.

 

Emma held the picture at arms length. She didn’t know what to make of it, and even more so, she didn’t know what to make of these weird possessive feelings that were clawing at her insides as she stared at it. She looked up when Regina made it next to her from hurrying across the room, presumably to snatch the page away. “What's this?” Emma questioned, “Did you take it from the book?” Emma had never seen that page before.

 

Regina took the page into her hands. “It's not from the book.” Regina explained, “Robin found it,” Regina took a steadying breath, “Before he left with his family. It appeared to him.”

 

Emma saw the familiar pain of abandonment in Regina’s eyes. She wanted to comfort her, but she didn’t know how, so she simply asked, “It's not your story. What is it?”

 

Regina shrugged her shoulders. She really didn’t know what it was or how it was created. She met Emma’s eyes and told her, “Robin thought it was hope, a sign that…” Regina took a breath, trying to figure out how exactly to phrase her words, “A sign that things would work out for me.” She scoffed and let her hand fall, placing the picture back it it’s drawer. “Turns out it was a cruel joke.” Regina said as she glided the drawer shut.

 

Sensing the hurt, Emma felt the need to ask, “Have you heard from him?”

 

“No.” Regina responded curtly.

 

Emma rubbed a hand on the broad part of Regina’s back. “Well, that is probably for the best, you know. So he can move on with Marian. I think that it is a sign of hope, though.”

 

Regina gave Emma the glare that she was so accustomed to giving her and said, “And how’s that?” With a raised eyebrow.

 

Emma met her glare and offered, “Just think of it as like a draft, you know? Many writers make multiple drafts before they decide how they really want the story to go.” She lifted Regina’s chin in her hand do drive her next point home. “Maybe, the Author thought you were fated to be with him, but it turned out he was wrong? We still don’t understand the power of the book.”

 

Regina pulled away and huffed, “Well if it’s so powerful, how am I so miserable? Is this my atonement?”

 

Emma took a breath, choosing her next words wisely. She knew that Regina was verging on one of her tantrums, and it would be just like Emma to say something that would push her over the edge. Emma started, “Perhaps, but maybe the book doesn’t know your happy ending. What do you imagine as your happy ending?”

 

Regina bit her lip and thought for a second, “Hmm.. I guess I haven’t really thought about it, because whenever I start to pursue something that I think will be my happy ending, it always gets shut down.”

 

Emma sighed. It made her sad to think about this beautiful and powerful woman going through her life, not even knowing what would make her happy, just hurting, and wanting other people to hurt, too. She looked softly at Regina and said, “Well, maybe those things weren’t your happy ending, then. The book is powerful, but not powerful enough to tell the future.”

 

Regina scoffed at the blonde’s hopeful optimism. “Can you tell me what my future is, Miss Swan?” The words curled with more venom than she intended off of her tongue.  
  
Emma held Regina’s hips and looks her in the eyes. She reassured her, “When you find your peace, and what brings you peace, that will be your happy ending.”  
  
Regina pulled away and snarled, “Don’t get handsy with me, Swan.” Regina walked toward her desk, and turned back around to look at Emma while she leaned her weight against it, her hands gripped the edge of it to support her. “I’ve been trying to fill this hole in my heart since I got stuck in the Groundhog’s Day hellhole I put myself in. That’s why I adopted Henry. While I love him a lot, the hole started to open again a few years ago.” Regina looked down, ashamed. She felt like a bad mother admitting it out loud. “I just wanted to be happy.”

 

Emma walked up to her and closed a decent amount of space between the two of them. “Well, you seemed pretty happy last night,” Emma said with a wink.

  
Regina straightened up and put on her best angry school teacher face, “If you ever want that to happen again, I wouldn’t recommend bringing it up in my office during the day.” She said in a hushed angry tone. She turned around to straighten papers on her desk and show Emma that she meant business. She was not expecting, however, for Emma to close the space between them and push her into the desk. She felt one of Emma’s hands on her hip, pulling her ass into Emma’s pelvis, while the other one slowly ran up her thigh. She felt Emma’s hot breath on her earlobe, “Even though I know you want to bend me over your desk right now?” She challenged.

 

The blonde’s presence was about to turn the Mayor into mush, so she put on her best poker face, twirled around and said, “There will be time for that later, Miss Swan.” Not trusting herself to stick to her own words, Regina walked around to the other side of the desk to put a physical barrier between them, “As you can see,” Regina started, “I’m on a bit of a conquest of my own,” she gestured towards the storybook, then towards the badge that was just delightfully and slightly painful digging into  her ass cheek just moments before, “I see that you have donned your Sheriff’s badge today. Are you planning on actually doing any work or are you just going to be disturbing your superiors all day?” 

 

Emma put her hands up by her shoulders in surrender. “Well, damn,” she said. “I just wanted to bring you lunch and a treat, maybe talk to you a bit-“

 

“All of which, you have done,” Regina cut in. “Thank you for the food. You can go pick up Henry from school and share those root beers, if you would like. I haven’t seen him have a soda all month, so he shouldn’t be in too much danger of tooth decay.”

 

Emma didn’t want to leave yet, but she could tell that that was Regina’s nice way of telling her that she didn’t want her to stay. Emma reluctantly turned towards the door and scooped up the two root beer bottles.

 

“Just use magic to open the damn bottles, Miss Swan.” Regina called out behind her before she left the Mayor’s office. Emma smirked to herself, because of course she could do that, but she had not thought about it before.

 

There was still thirty minutes before Henry got let out of school, so Emma took her time as she walked from City Hall to the school. She had never really noticed or appreciated how pretty and picturesque Storybrooke really was. It had all of the charms of a small town on television; everything was almost too good to be true. Since waking up that morning, Emma had been in a great mood. She had even caught herself smiling for no reason more than once, and now, she was literally stopping to smell the roses.

 

By the time she got to Henry’s school, she didn’t have to wait that long for his tussle-haired self to come striding happily out of the double doors that the children got released out of. He saw his mom quickly, given her signature red leather jacket and bouncing blonde curls. He ran up to meet her, sliding his arms around her waist and pulling her close for a big hug.

 

Emma left the embrace and offered Henry a root beer, “Here, kid. How was your day at school?” Emma quickly flicked her wrist and removed the caps from the bottles. Henry clapped as we watched the caps disappear only to reappear in his mother’s outstretched hand, where she then put them in her pocket.

 

“It was cool, we had a presentation on how paper is made today, and we got to make our own paper! I’ll show you mine tomorrow, we had to leave it overnight to dry.”

 

“That’s awesome, kid,” Emma said as she draped her arm around Henry while they walked along Main Street. “Want to go sit by the water and finish these?” Henry nodded and the duo continued through the town.


	16. Had It Been Another Way, Would There Still Be Things Left To Say?

Emma had been in a weird place lately. She was starting to pull away from those that loved her. She hadn’t seen much of Henry alone since their excursion to the wharf. She had been pulling away from Hook, too, although that may have been related to more than just her ability to commit, perhaps if she could get her mind off of that damn brunette, she could actually get something done. Her mother and father desperately wanted to clear the air about their transgression with Emma’s only childhood friend, but Emma was still clinging to that wound.

 

She had been doing her best to fight the darkness that had been brooding ever since she shoved Cruella off of that cliff. She didn’t know that Cruella was powerless to hurt anyone, but now that she did, it felt like another life that she had personally ruined. Where ever Emma looked, there was a trail of destruction that followed her. She wasn’t feeling like anybody’s savior now.

 

She arrived at her office after talking to Maleficent at Granny’s determined to find some answers. She combed through stack after stack of documents and newspaper clippings. She thought about how much easier this would all be if it was on the internet. “I wonder how much data is just sitting in books on shelves, not even accessible on the internet?” She thought to herself. Part of her career in bail bonds was looking for the things that people didn’t want found, so she had become a pretty adept researcher, despite never graduating high school.

 

Regina sauntered in, the usual click-clack of her heels let Emma know who was approaching, so she continued staring at the microfilm, trying to make sense of it all. Regina peeped over her shoulder to get a better look at the screen. “Ain't fate a bitch?” Regina questioned. “You know this girl. How?”

 

Emma pursed her lips, not ready to tell Regina the extent of their relationship. Regina made Emma not want to show any weakness when she was dressed in her power clothes, so there was no way in hell she was going to get into her days as a street kid. She answered simply, “She was my friend.”

 

Regina could feel the weight behind the words. “Oh, the one you told me about. Who you said you pushed away?” She said.

 

Emma was flabbergasted. How could so many things be related? It pissed her off that none of her actions seemed to be her own. It was as if she were a cyclist in a velodrome, just leaning to turn left on the track in perpetuity. Frustrated, Emma blurted out, “How is this possible? Of all the kids in the world, the one I end up friends with is the one my parents banished?”

 

Regina put her hand on Emma’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. It wasn’t long ago that Regina had felt the same way- constrained by the arms of fate, wanting the answers to somehow be different. She felt for what Emma was going through, and wanted to comfort her. She started softly, “Emma, there are powers beyond our understanding, and your parents messed with them.” Regina hoped that this would be enough to console her but not too much to be consider patronizing.

 

Emma pouted, “So the only friend I ever had wasn't even my friend by choice.” She crossed her arms and leaned back in the office chair.

 

Regina squeezed Emma’s shoulder in solace. “I know. It hurts, doesn't it? I've been there, too.” Regina desperately wanted Emma to understand that she knew how alike they really were, and that she didn’t always have to put up the strong front for her anymore. They were friends now, and friends help each other through shit.

 

The words had their desired effect. Emma twirled her chair around, finally facing the Mayor for the first time since she had click-clacked through the open doors. Emma’s eyes were full of repressed pain as they met Regina’s. Emma let out a little, “Yeah?” To encourage Regina to continue.

 

Regina balanced herself between the two arms of Emma’s chair, slightly leaning over Emma, who still had her arms crossed and back flush with the support of the chair. Regina looked at Emma with a little smirk and said, “You think it was a coincidence that I just so happened to adopt the savior's son? Our actions are our own, but fate pushes us. Maybe it's time to push back.”

 

One of Emma’s arms hand unwrapped itself from its position guarding her core and was now tracing circles on the back of Regina’s hand. Emma had never believed in God, and was weary of anything that resembled a deity because after so many years of feeling victim to her surroundings, she could not imagine anybody having any say over her life except for herself. That’s why Emma felt like she needed to prove to Gold that his master manipulating days were going to soon come to an end. When she heard Regina’s words about them taking back their own destiny, that lit up something deep inside her. She didn’t want to be too hopeful, though, so she asked Regina, “How?”

 

Regina explained the plan that she had been working on since her disturbing call with her sister the night before, “Well, I have to go to New York to rescue Robin from my insane sister, and you have to find this girl to redeem your parents and show Gold he's wrong about you... That he can't change you. What do you say we help each other?”

 

The proposition took Emma by surprise. The Queen never asked for help. Was she being for real, or did she have some sort of ulterior motive? The thought of spending some time alone with her was too good to pass up, though, so Emma casually responded, “What, like a road trip?”

 

Regina hadn’t heard the term before. Where she was from, people would have called it a “quest” or “an adventure” but it was fairly straightforward, so she casually replied, “Well, if that's what you want to call it.”

 

Emma brought her eyes back to Regina, and her usual guarded self slipped through as the words, “I'm okay, Regina. I don't need a babysitter.” sharply came off of her tongue.

 

Regina felt the edges of the words. She straightened up to give Emma space, but that rebellious glare the she was receiving told her that Emma needed a little more space, so she perched herself on the desk. She wanted to tell Emma to stop being such an idiot, but she knew that would only force her to pull away more. So Regina stroked her ego a bit and offered, “But maybe I need you.” Hearing those pitiful words come out of such a strong woman got Emma’s attention, and her gaze softened. Regina continued, “You lived in New York. I've barely been outside of Storybrooke. How about it, Swan? How about we make today the day we both beat fate?”

 

Emma laughed and threw her hands in the air, “How grand would that be?” She said through a giggle, “The Savior and The Evil Queen Take On Fate” Emma said as if she were announcing the next blockbuster action film.

 

It felt good to hear Emma laugh and to see the little creases in the corners of her eyes. To let Emma know she was serious, she took her hand and told her, “Well, we already have before. You were fated to break my curse, which means that I should probably still hate you. Yet, somehow… really, I guess through our son, you wiggled your way into my heart.”

 

Emma couldn’t help herself but to poke fun at Regina’s vulnerability. It was a coping mechanism that she had learned in order to guard her own feelings when she thought she was on the verge of vulnerability. She said in a singsong voice, “Aw, Regina, I’m in your heart? Does that mean that I can braid your hair and paint your toes while we gossip about boys?”

 

Regina rolled her eyes at Emma’s deflection. “If that’s what you wanted to do, you should have had a daughter. Teeny-boppers aren’t really my style.”

 

Emma laughed, “I know, I know. I just like teasing you.” Emma stood up from her chair, one of Regina’s hands still in hers, and put a piece of dark hair back behind Regina’s ear. The entire time, Emma didn’t break eye contact. She moved slowly and deliberately, with her eyes trying to look into the Queen’s brain, trying to catch a glimmer of what she was thinking about.

 

Emma had an overwhelming rush of blood when the beauty of Regina hit her. This happened sometimes when she looked at her. Every feature on the brunette was perfect, down to the scar on her lip. She smiled and said to Regina, “Fate does have it’s way of bringing us together, though, doesn’t it? Think of all of the events that had to happen to get us to be standing here, now. I mean, shit, you were my mother’s step mother, my son’s mother, and yet, through magic and time, you are standing here before me, more beautiful than ever. Ageless. It just makes me wonder, where all the moments leading up to this one inevitable?”

 

“Well, you could say that because they have already happened, that they must be. In regards to my skin, however, it turns out stopping time is a lot more effective than moisturizer, Miss Swan.” Regina smirked at her comment, trying to distract Emma from the fact the she had made her cheeks flush.

 

“I’d say so,” Emma winked. “Alright, I’m saying, fuck it, let’s go take on some fate of our own!”

 

Regina pulled away from the blonde. “I- I just realized that this may be a little weird for you, going with me to rescue Robin and all.”

 

Emma gave a half-hearted smile as she leaned against the desk, her blonde curls cascading over her shoulders. “Madame Mayor, I am not your Knight in Shining Armor. I have my own armor to keep people out, thank you very much. I have got some problems here that I wouldn’t mind escaping for awhile…”

 

Regina angled her body so that she was parallel with Emma. With a raised eyebrow, she made eye contact with Emma and pried, “Oh, really, now?”

 

Emma shrugged and offered, “Well, I still have to deal with my parents, whom I have not gotten over my negative feelings for. The feelings about this latest development in the fucked up story that is my life, and the feelings that brewed from the whole being abandoned in another realm thing,” Emma took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I also have some nautical problems that I have forced upon myself. I really should take care of them sooner rather than later, but my fight or flight instinct is kicking in, and I want to run away with you this weekend.” Emma ended her rant and stared at the brunette, waiting for a response to the words she had just vomited out into a confession. The truth, however, was that Emma could run away with Regina forever.

 

The honesty from the Savior surprised Regina. There was obviously a lot on her mind, but Regina seldom heard Emma so candid. She knew that she had to choose her next words wisely. She didn’t want to spook the sudden but welcome vulnerability that she was experiencing from the Savior. Regina braced herself and replied, “Well, it’s not a short drive, so you can ponder all of your obligations on it.“ She didn’t think this was quite right, though, and added, “I just know that I feel obligated to save Robin from my bat shit crazy sister, before she does anything truly awful. I still care about him, and I know he doesn’t deserve this.”

 

These words appeared to have strengthened Emma. “Let this be us atoning our fates,” she started, “I’ll return Lily to her mother and my parents will have some sort of forgiveness. Then, I’ll figure out how to get that love sick puppy dog look off of Killian’s face. I do care for him. I can’t just ruin this for him. I think I’m the first person he’s fallen for since Milah, and that is a weight I have beared heavily, because I don’t want him to give up on love like I did.” Emma felt lighter after admitting it out loud. 

 

“Poor guy,” is all Regina had to say. Regina tried to hide her delight that the beautiful blonde in front of her wanted to end things with that insufferable pirate. As much as it pained her to admit it, and she wouldn’t to anybody besides herself, the thought of Captain Guyliner’s lips on Emma’s skin was one more than she could stand. It made her blood boil in a way that she hated because she refused to admit that all this extra stuff between her and Emma was more than just a power play. Although, she thought, a Queen does not share. She looked at the blonde and reassured her, “You know, I am here for you. Even the things that you don’t want to talk about.”

 

“I know,” Emma admitted, “But don’t worry, I wont talk your ear off about all of my  _ feelings _ on the way to New York.” Emma chuckled to indicate she was done talking about these sorts of things for now.

 

“Delightful,” Regina nodded. “Now, I’ll go and get packed. Can you have your parents watch Henry or are you going to be a spiteful little child and make me hunt down a babysitter?” The words had a singe of heat to them that allowed Regina to put some of her walls back up.

 

A little stunned by the shift in Regina’s tone, Emma agreed to her request. “No, you’re right, I’ll call them and set it up. He could use some quality time with them, anyway, I guess.” The words came off of Emma’s tongue like a salty teenager agreeing to do something that she hated to please her parents. 

 

Regina decided to turn her attitude around. She closed the space between her and the blonde. She could tell by the slight dilation of her pupils and the widening of her eyes that Emma’s heartbeat had quickened. Regina pulled a blonde curl to the side to expose Emma’s right ear, and the Queen leaned in close enough so that her lips would ever so gently scrape against Emma’s ear with every word that her lips formed. She lowered her voice to a whisper, “Good girl. You will be rewarded,” she hushed over the light skin, then she sank her teeth into Emma’s earlobe. She heard a sharp intake of breath and felt Emma’s pelvis buck forward towards hers. In a moment, she twirled on her heels, and her dark hair swished over her shoulders. Without looking back, because she knew that Emma wouldn’t be able to take her eyes off of her, she clicked out of the room in her high heels and left down the hall. Regina loved leaving people wanting more.

 

When Regina had left the office, Emma slowly exhaled. She was trying to calm down the flips in her stomach. Her knuckles were white from how hard she was gripping her desk. Phew, that woman did something to her. She needed to gather her things, the documents that were strewn about her desk, and make arrangements for the weekend. There was no time to give to the throbbing bundle in her pants. Her ear was still tingling from where Regina had made her mark, and Emma’s nipples had hardened just from that beautiful woman’s touch that was still coursing through her. Emma kept on replaying the last thing Regina said over and over in her head. It was pitiful, the pool Emma turned into any time Regina called her a, “good girl.” She replayed the next part of the sentence in her head. Rewarded. That word stuck out to her. 

 

Emma was thinking about Regina’s collarbone. She wanted to kiss it and sink her teeth into it. Her thoughts were distracted as she dialed her mom’s number. She was in such a daze that she didn’t even realize that Snow had answered.

 

“Emma? Emma? Is everything ok?” Snow said through the speaker.

 

Emma snapped back to reality, “Yeah, sorry, I’m pretty busy. I was just wondering if you could do me a favor?”

 

Snow responded immediately and eagerly, surprised by her daughter calling her for help, “Yes! Of course! Anything that you need!”

 

Emma, for once, was pleased at how badly her mother wanted to make up with her. She knew that she cared about her, but it was so hard to accept after thinking for 28 years that she had just been dumped in the woods by a teenager. “Can you please keep Henry for the weekend? I have to help Regina with something in New York.”

 

Snow sounded a little hesitant, “Okay… Are you sure? Is it safe for you to be going to New York… you know… just you and Regina?”

 

Emma laughed, “Of course. I can handle Regina. She just asked for my help and I figured that it would be a good way for me to get out and clear my head. Also, I think it would be good for Henry to know that his moms are finally working together on something.”

 

“Alright, then…” Snow still sounded a little skeptical. “Just be careful, and please do not do anything too dangerous. You have a family that loves you now, you don’t need to pull and vigilante stuff when you go to the big city.”

 

“I promise, Mom. Thanks for keeping Henry.” Emma said, and hung up before there could be any awkward “I love you” because Emma was still hurting, and even though she knew she did in her heart, she didn’t feel like saying the words out loud right now.

 

Hearing her daughter promise her and call her, “mom,” even though they were in a fight made Snow’s eyes tear up. It was all steps, and she was determined to have a relationship with her daughter. The easiest way to do that was to listen to her cues about when she needed space. Snow knew that Emma had spent her whole life running, so if she didn’t give her space, she might just lose her for good. 

 

Meanwhile, Emma was determined to have whatever sort of relationship that was brewing between her and Regina. It made her nervous to have Regina helping her with Lily. Lily was the only other female that she had ever had these feelings for. She know that this fact would come out eventually, but she was determined to not let Regina know how important Lily had been in her life. She had destroyed Emma when she abandoned her when they saw each other the last time. She didn’t want Regina to think that she could do that to her, too.

 

It had been so long since Emma had even thought about Lily, let alone the fallout that they had. When she did think about Lily, she had only known that she had fallen in love with her only in hindsight. When she was as teenager, she had never thought that she was any orientation besides straight, and her and Lily never had an official relationship, but looking back on it, Emma felt that they had. When she re-examined her feelings, and why she pushed Lily away so hard, she had finally realized, ten years after the fact, that it was because she was in love with her. She was her first kiss, but they had joked it off as “practice.” They had kissed a number of times after that, too, usually when they were under the influence of something that they shouldn’t have been, given how young they were, whether they were drunk or high, neither of them acknowledged that the kisses meant something more than just practice or seeking affection. They had been in love, but because they were both broken, they had never admitted it to each other. 

 

They had a very passionate kiss the last time that they had seen each other, but over the years, Emma had convinced herself that it was nothing but a very emphatic goodbye. The goodbye you give someone when you know you are never going to see them again. Emma had cursed herself a thousand times for not being able to pick up in the moment that that was what it was. The next morning, Lily said goodbye, and that she would be back again, soon. She never came back. When Emma had realized she was never going to, she had broken down. She cried that whole day, cursing herself for letting her get so close to another person. It was just another person to discard her, like she was nothing, just like she thought that her parents had done. Apparently, her only guarantee was a walk away.

 

Months later, Lily had tried to reach out to her, writing her a letter, trying to explain that she could bear to see the look in Emma’s eyes if she really knew it was the last time that she was ever going to see her before she ran away. She tried to explain that it felt like everything that was good in her life always ended up turning forever poisoned, and how she didn’t want to inflict that kind of suffering on Emma. Emma hated her for it. All she really wanted was to have someone to suffer with. Her world was cold and lonely as a teenage girl on the streets. Lily had ended the letter telling Emma that she loved her. Emma wanted to rip it up so many times, but in her usual self destructive way, it was one of the few things she had kept from her childhood. She hadn’t read it in years, but she could still imagine the envelope that it came in, with Lily’s perfect girly handwriting on it, in a box beneath her bed.

 

Emma had always wanted to believe in the “I will always find you” fairy tale love, but that was never what she was shown in her life. Now that Lily was about to come back into her life, Emma was just noticing the scar that she had left on her. She thought she blamed most of her trust issues in relationships because of Neal, but this came first. This wound had festered before it closed, and it was reopened shortly after by a pickpocket who yet again abandoned her. Emma knew she needed to make amends with Lily, not only for their youth, but, also, for her parents inexcusable actions.


	17. If Moderation Is Real, Can You Explain How It Feels?

Regina saw the yellow bug pull up in her driveway, so she grabbed her bag and headed out the front door. Henry was staying at the loft with his grandparents for the weekend, so that left Emma and Regina to do some recon in their lives. She grabbed her designer bag and strutted down the walkway. She saw Emma’s face beaming at her through the windshield. They both needed to escape the fishbowl for a bit. 

 

Emma couldn’t help but smile when she saw the mayor leave her house. Something about the way that she had said, “But maybe… I need you,” in her office had awoken something inside Emma that she wasn’t necessarily ready to acknowledge. It was a fleeting thought, almost a hope for the future. As the brunette approached, Emma steadied her breath.

 

Regina reached for the handle of the bug and gracefully wrapped her fingers around it to open the door. “Good morning, Miss Swan. Are you ready to go right some wrongs and take back our destiny?”

 

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” the cliche rolled off of the blonde’s tongue, and she pulled the yellow bug out of the Mayor’s driveway.

 

…

 

They had been driving on the interstate for almost an hour, aimlessly flipping through radio stations every few songs, neither of them speaking terribly much. Regina was the one who finally broke the silence. “So… What is this Lily like?” She innocently asked.

 

Emma drew in a deep breath and answered slowly, “She’s… strong, independent, charming, captivating…” Emma started to rattle off more, “She can make you feel like the coolest person in the world, but you have to be careful around her, because half of the time, she has an ulterior motive. She can make you feel lonely in a crowded room.” The Savior looked out of the corner of her eye at the beautiful woman in her passenger seat, “She kind of reminds me of someone I know, actually…” She said with a wink, teasing her passenger.

 

“Oh, I promise you, Miss Swan, there is nobody in any realm quite like me.” Regina reached her arm up and started twirling the hairs at the nape of Emma’s neck and rubbing her fingers delicately on the knots that she could feel.

 

“Oh, Madame Mayor, I know that there is nobody quite like you. I knew that the moment I met you. I was just implying that you both have some similar traits.”

 

“I want to know more about what made you, you, Miss Swan. It’s not lost on me that you grew up the way that you did because of me, and for that I am deeply sorry. I will spend as long as you let me making it up to you” Regina admitted without making eye contact.

 

Emma tensed a little over the Queen’s words. She realized that she should be more annoyed and resentful to this astonishing admission, but she could physically feel her heart soften. It was probably the way her stomach flipped and time this regal beauty decided to grace her with her touch. She could feel the goosebumps prickling her neck, and she conceded to Regina’s request, “Okay, Madame Mayor… what would you like to know?”

 

Regina pursed her lips. She had not expected Emma to give herself up so quickly. “Tell me about a time that you were happy.” She settled on.

 

“Hmm… alright…” Emma thought for a beat. Most of her childhood memories were lonely or sad, so it took a minute for her to recall one that was not going to make Regina feel pity for her. Emma drew in a breath, “When I was young, I read a lot. No matter what home I was in or how fucked up things were, I would always have my stories.”

 

“Kind of reminds me of Henry,” Regina interjected with a soft smile as she continued to run her thumb up and down Emma’s neck. This made a smile crack from Emma’s lips.

 

“I guess so. He is a little bookworm,” Emma agreed. “Anyway, when I was around, I dunno, eleven or twelve, this one family I was staying with would let me walk to the library. I went almost every day that summer.  Sometimes I would stay all day, other times, I would wander around the little town I lived in- Norwood. But, every day, I walked past this bright field of golden sunflowers. They were tall and proud and beautiful. Over the course of the summer, I thought I was going crazy. I could swear that when I walked past them in the morning, they would be facing me, but when I walked home, they would be, as well.”

 

Regina smiled as she thought about preteen Emma walking along the bright yellow flowers with her bright yellow hair.

 

Emma breathed and continued, “So, one day, I got curious. I decided to do some research about some flowers at the library. I was so shocked when I found out that the plants could actually move slightly to follow the sun. I thought that I was going crazy, but it turned out, I was just observant.“

 

Regina smiled and caught Emma’s eye as she looked out of the corner of it. “ I bet that helped when you started your career,” she said. 

 

“As a bondsman or a sheriff?” Emma chuckled. 

 

“Probably both, I guess, but your sheriff duties have been slacking lately, if I should point out, Miss Swan.” Regina teased. 

 

“I have been quite distracted, Madame Mayor,” Emma said as she gave Regina a wink from the side of her eye. 

 

“It seems as though I have distracted you yet again, were you finished with your story?” Regina asked. 

 

Emma shrugged, “I guess. There isn’t much more to tell. I remember getting past all of the non-fiction stuff about sunflowers, and then moving onto some legends and mythologies on them. According to the Greeks, the sunflower originated when Clytie, a water nymph, fell in love with, Apollo, the Sun God. Every day, she would sit and watch him as he pulled his chariot across the sky. She didn’t eat, or drink, or move, because she was so captivated in his presence.  He never returned her love, though, and eventually, she withered away from sea nymph into a plant, all because she just wanted to watch him. She didn’t have any food or sleep because she was so in love with him. I remember the thought of that was astounding for me at the time. I had never known that kind of love. I could not imagine feeling that way about anyone, or anyone ever feeling that way about me.” Emma looked down at her hands, then back at the road, deliberately avoiding looking at Regina. 

 

Regina had been intensely listening to Emma as she was talking about her past. It made her sad to hear that Emma never thought that anyone could feel that way about her. As a queen, Regina had gotten used to peoples’ eyes following her, and their eager servitude. However, she realized that this wasn’t the love Emma was talking about either. It was the love where you just wanted to listen to them because you like the way their lips move when they talked. It was the kind of love where you could just sit in silence, reaffirmed by the other person’s presence, and that presence was enough to fill the void were words usually hung. 

 

“I noticed that you said, ‘had,’ does this mean that this has changed for you?” Regina timidly asked, not sure how she would feel about the answer.

 

Emma sucked her cheeks in and thought for a moment, “Well, when I said it, I was thinking about up until that moment in my life, but.. I- I don’t know..”

 

“What about Captain Guyliner?” Regina asked.

 

“That’s nothing. He thinks he likes me and wants me, but I know that it’s just a part of his fucked up I-must-have-and-conquer pirate persona. And stupid me, who never was taught how to love or have a healthy relationship, just threw myself at the first person who persistently pursued me.” Emma was breathing harder. She had never said something so honest and true to another person like that before.

 

Regina tried to soak in all of the information Emma just hurled at her. “So.. he doesn’t make you want to sit and watch the sun?” Regina said, trying to hide the relief in her voice.

 

“Not in the slightest,” Emma said, scrunching her nose, “He’s kind of, well, he’s kind of just a placeholder.” There was a moment of silence. “Wow, that sounds fucked up admitting it out loud.”

 

“A placeholder for what?” Regina asked.

 

Emma pulled her lips to the side and shrugged. “I don’t know. A real relationship? I like the attention that he gives me, and we can have fun together, but it is just so one sided. For instance, we’ve been doing whatever we have been doing for a while now, and he still hasn’t made me cum.”

 

Hearing Emma say that word, and such a bold admission, too, did something to Regina. It made her flush, and she didn’t know how to take it any other way except for as an invitation. “Neither have I,” she said slyly, dragging her index finger slowly down Emma’s neck, causing her skin to prick up in a trail of goosebumps.

 

“Well… that’s not completely true,” Emma said through squinted eyes.

 

“Oh?” Regina urged her on.

 

“You may have been the star of a few of my fantasies…” Emma coyly admitted.

 

Regina thought about when Emma had been touching herself in the same seat that she was sitting in right now, not knowing that Regina had peeped in on her through her rear view mirror. Her thighs clenched. Regina placed her hand on Emma’s knee and looked at her intently. “Was this ever one of your fantasies?” She whispered in Emma’s ear as she slowly inched her fingers up Emma’s thigh.

 

Emma shuttered, “Absolutely,” she managed to get out, since her mouth had gone completely dry. Regina’s hand made it most of the way up Emma’s thigh.

 

Regina loved the reactions of a lover. It turned her on. She reached the top of Emma’s thigh and possessively grabbed Emma’s cunt through her jeans. Emma’s pupils dilated and a small whimper escaped from the back of her throat. With a pleased smile, Regina beckoned, “Good girl.” 

 

Regina leaned over and ran her lips down Emma’s neck. “Ohh.. fuck.” Emma felt her nipples harden and the warmth pool at the bottom of her stomach. As Regina drug her lips sloppily down Emma’s neck, she unbuttoned and unzipped Emma’s pants.

 

Emma’s pussy was throbbing. She was aching to be touched by the Mayor. It was all Emma could do to keep her eyes on the damn road. Regina’s fingers played with the lace at the top of Emma’s panties, and skirted fleetingly over Emma’s lower stomach. She put just enough pressure so that it wouldn’t tickle, but not enough on the pulsing bundle of nerves that Emma was silently beckoning her towards. Every time her fingers slipped under the lace, Emma would buck her hips, and Regina would retract her fingers just enough to not slip in between Emma’s folds. Regina noticed the blood coming to the surface of Emma’s throat, and moved her attention up to her ear. Between biting, flicking her tongue against, and sucking on Emma’s earlobe, Regina whispered, “Turn on the cruise control.”

 

Emma quickly and willingly did what she was told because she could feel her arousal in her panties and it threatened to leak through her jeans with just how much was spilling out of her. Her breath was sharp and quick, her brain trying to keep herself together, focused, and not cause an accident. She looked at Regina for a moment, taking in how beautiful she looked in her deep purple dress. Emma had learned in school that purple was the color of royalty, and, fuck, did Regina look regal as ever with that jewel tone dress and her lustful hooded eyes.

 

Emma did as instructed, with the car on cruise control, and Regina in control, she could hardly contain her excitement. Regina tapped her hips twice to indicate that she wanted Emma to lift them. When she did so, Regina forcefully drew her jeans and panties down her lap and past her knees, so she could spread her legs wide.

 

Regina’s eyes widened when she saw how deliciously wet the savior was. She was already making a mark on the seat. “Here’s how it is going to be, Savior,” Regina started, her voice low and slow, “You need to practice your self control. If you can master that now, then there is no hope of Rumple turning you dark.” Regina took a deep breath to see if the blonde would turn and watch her breasts rise. She did. “So, first rule, none of that,” Regina instructed, “If you want to cum, you must keep your eyes on the road at all times. No looking at me, no closing your eyes. Understood, Miss Swan?” Regina sharply asked.

 

Emma gulped, trying to imagine the task before her. Her wet cunt was directly touching the seat, and every bump in the road that they went over was making it ache more and more. Emma sheepishly agreed, “Yes, ma’am,” and tightened her grip on the steering wheel.

 

“Good girl.” Regina purred again.

 

Emma’s pussy clenched at the approval, releasing a new wave of arousal. Regina was able to collect it with her fingertips before it dripped on the seat. Regina rubbed the arousal with her thumb, index, and middle fingers, then split her coated fingers and ran them up Emma’s lower lips. She felt the Emma had trimmed her hair quite close, and Regina bit her lip thinking about how Emma had prepared herself for their weekend away together. Regina had groomed herself, too, so it was reassuring to her that they had both fantasized about what might happen on this trip.

 

Regina pushed her fingers back down and teased Emma’s hole, knowing by her squirming that the blonde wanted more, but not willing to give it to her quite yet. She took long, slow strokes up the blonde’s slit, making sure that Emma’s whole pussy was covered with her wetness.

 

Emma’s clit was engorged with the blood rushing to it. She rocked her hips forward so that Regina’s fingers could feel how desperately Emma wanted to take Regina inside of her. Emma could feel her heart beating in her pussy and was waiting for Regina to give her some relief.

 

It worked. Regina’s index and middle finger found their they to Emma’s clit and started circling around it lazily. Emma was so fucking wet that Regina had a hard time focusing on her clit, because her fingers kept sliding right off of it. Regina straightened and stiffened her fingers so that her hand was flat and started sliding her hand furiously up and down the blonde’s glistening cunt. 

 

Emma’s breath hitched at the quick change in intensity, but she forced her eyes to stay on the road. She really wanted to watch what Regina was doing, but she knew that Regina would punish her for it. This was a test, and Emma knew it. If she passed, she would finally get to cum from the touch of the Queen.

 

Regina held Emma’s pussy in her hand, and slid one finger inside of the Savior, the hilt of her hand continued to massage circles into Emma’s clit. Regina relished the way the liquid warmth engulfed her finger. Without much patience for herself, Regina slid a second finger in. She watched while biting her lip as her digits disappeared inside of the blonde over and over and Regina’s thighs squeezed together as she tried to contain her own arousal. Emma’s pussy grabbed at her fingers, begging her for more. Regina thrusted her fingers harder, which relieved some satisfied moans from the back of Emma’s throat. Those noises that Emma made kept Regina from feeling the heat in her muscles as she fucked Emma from the angle she was at.

 

“You’re lasting longer than I expected, I thought you would have for sure broken a rule by now,” Regina mentioned as she saw the puddle on the seat below Emma had tripled in size.

 

“I have wanted you to make me cum for a long while now, Madame Mayor. I would do anything to make that happen. That’s why I’m trying to follow the rules.”

 

“Alright, dear, remember the main rule is that you must keep your eyes on the road at all times. Please try to manage to not crash this insipid excuse of a car,” Regina said before unbuckling her seatbelt.

 

Emma’s eyes widened when she heard the click of Regina freeing herself from the seatbelt. From her peripheral, she could tell that Regina was stirring, but she had no idea what she was going to do next.

 

With her two fingers returning to where they were in Emma’s pussy before she had to remove her restraint, Regina leaned over the console. She enticingly wagged her ass in the air to test to see if Emma could keep looking straight. When she did, Regina flattened her tongue against Emma’s slit. She started near her fingers and slowly worked her way up to Emma’s pulsing clit.

 

Emma was now white-knuckling the steering wheel. It was taking everything she had not to just pull over and enjoy this. She knew if she did that, though, that everything would stop and the moment she had dreamt about would be over. “Shiiiiitt….” Emma moaned, dragging out the word for several seconds.

 

With a self satisfied grin, Regina kept flicking her tongue against Emma’s clit while pumping her fingers faster and harder inside of her. The roar of the engine over overshadowed by the wet sucking noises of Regina on Emma’s drenched pussy and the loud exhales and moans that they were producing from the blonde.

 

Way too soon, and all at once, Regina felt her fingers being sucked in uncontrollably by the warmth in Emma’s muscles and Emma’s hips buck off of the seat. “I’m coming,” Emma desperately cried, a tear of relief falling down her cheek, desperately forcing her eyes open so that she didn’t crash them.

 

Regina held her fingers inside of her until she felt Emma loosen her muscles. A pool of fresh hot arousal dripped down the back of Regina’s hand. She slowly removed her fingers and licked them both clean. Emma caught this out of the corner of her eye and ground her hips into the seat. It was one of the sexiest things she had ever seen. 

 

Regina grabbed Emma by the chin and gave her a sloppy kiss. Emma could taste herself on Regina’s mouth, bringing her back to reality. She couldn’t believe Regina just had her mouth on her pussy. 

 

“That was pretty good self control, Miss Swan. Maybe you really are The Savior,”Regina bantered.

 

Emma let out something between a scoff and a laugh. “I’m tempted to call you that after the way you just made me feel. Holy fuck.” Emma was still catching her breath and coming down off of that post-orgasm high.

 

“Let me help you with these,” Regina said as she first pulled Emma’s panties back over her ass, then her jeans. Emma obliged. Regina could tell her to jump off of a cliff right now, and she probably would, saying, “If it would please the Queen.” 

 

“I have never felt anything like that before,” Emma admitted.

 

Regina played with one of Emma’s blonde curls, she twirled it aimlessly between her fingers as she looked at the face of her son’s mother and engaged in this sort of pillow talk. She smirked and replied to Emma, “Scared for your life?”

 

“Maybe a little bit.” Emma agreed. “Maybe that fear factor added to it. I have never cum that hard for anything like that. Except, well, maybe, my vibrator.” Emma admitted, and then flushed with a little embarrassment.

 

“I would like to see that sometime,” Regina said, trying to turn Emma’s embarrassment into excitement.

 

“I guess we will have to see how New York goes,” Emma said, brushing it off. Emma was trying to be coy, but she wanted Regina to use that vibrator on her. She wanted to use it on Regina. She wanted to watch Regina use it on herself and cum, making a sloppy mess on the sheets. Every scenario bombarded her mind all at once.

 

“Well, at least we are almost there now. That was one hell of a way to pass the time, dear.” Regina winked at Emma, and then went to check her phone. She held her phone in her right hand while her left hand rested on Emma’s right thigh. Thoughtlessly, Regina rubbed her thumb back and forth on Emma’s leg. This small gesture made Emma’s heart soar. If anything could make her feel better about taking on the demons of her past, it was that Regina was doing it right by her side.


	18. I Don’t Really Need You to Prove Anything, but I Hope That You Do It

Emma watched the waves bring the tide in as she gazed off of the wharf when the sun was coming up. Her and Regina had returned from New York the night before, and Emma hadn’t been able to sleep. There was too much to think about. She had to deal with Hook, Lily, her parents, whatever was happening between her and Regina, as well as trying to thwart all of Gold’s tricks to try to turn her dark so that he could change the story to his heart’s content.

 

Over the years, the wharf was somewhere that she had come to seek solace. It was tainted now with Hook’s ship lurking in her peripherals, but that would soon be a memory of the past. She had decided before she had left that she was going to break up with him, she just didn’t know how to do it. She cared for the softer side of the pirate, but knew that she would never feel the same way that he alleged to feel for her. 

 

Then, she went and lost her shit on Lily. She almost let darkness take root in her heart. The thought of that disturbed her. How could she be so impulsive? Thankfully, Regina had been there to talk her down. Emma realized with every word that Regina spoke, that Regina was saying the things she was because she genuinely cared about Emma. It wasn’t some power play, like she was used to. She wanted to prevent Emma from making the same mistakes that she did. The darkness was a tempting, seemingly easy route to go. The tendrils of it could wrap their way around her heart without her realizing; until their constraint would grow tight enough to force her to pay attention. 

 

Emma gnawed at her lip as the sky grew lighter. She was in a mess of her own making. Most of her instincts were telling her to run- that it wasn’t worth it, that she needed to start fresh. But something about this town pulled her in like a magnet. Whenever she seriously contemplated leaving, she knew that she couldn’t go through with it. This was her home now. People loved her. Even though she rarely said it out loud, she loved the people in this town, too. They made her into a more caring and grounded person. 

 

Lost in her thoughts and the roar of the water, Emma hadn’t noticed that she wasn’t alone anymore. Regina strode in front of her, causing Emma to jump. She smiled and sat down next to Emma on the bench facing the ocean. Emma didn’t say anything; she didn’t ask how Regina would know that she would be there. Regina always managed to find her when she didn’t want to be found.

 

“So..” Regina tentatively started. “Do you want to talk about what happened when you pulled a gun on Lily?” 

 

“So..” Emma mimicked, “Do you want to talk about how your supposed soulmate went and knocked your sister up?” The trip had been very eventful, and not in the good way. It would be remembered very differently because of how it ended, instead of how it started, unfortunately enough. 

 

Regina turned her body towards Emma and was wringing her hands together. “I am beginning to think,” Regina started slowly, “That maybe, maybe he was my soulmate at one time. But, I was a different person then. I am no longer her. And... how many things have to go exactly right to get pregnant? I mean the timing of it all is really amazing. If I’m reading the signs right, he is not my destiny any more. Whatever fate had in store for us back then is definitely not in play anymore. It’s weird, though, because I guess I am sort of related to him now, I’m a weird sense of the word.”

 

Emma laughed. “Well, in the case, don’t forget that you are sort of related to me, too, Miss Evil Queen Step-GRANDmother,” she teased.

 

“You’ve got me there. What a small realm.” Regina said, her eyes looking into the patterns of the waves. She hated the name Evil Queen, but she didn’t get on to Emma about it because she knew that Emma was hurting. She had had similar struggles to the younger woman and knew that she would go running off like a scared animal if she challenged her too much. 

 

Emma looked off out to where the sky meets the sea, “Too small,” she said in response, “I can’t believe that the only other woman that I have had feelings for happened to be the one banished by my parents.” Emma cursed herself for letting the words fall out of her mouth. She hasn’t gotten hardly any sleep, and sleeplessness made her more honest than booze. She suppressed the warm flooding into her cheeks and kept her eye on the horizon, too embarrassed to give Regina any confirmation of her words. 

 

Regina raised an eyebrow because she had caught Emma’s slip up. She had indirectly admitted that she had feelings for her. Regina saw the flush creeping up the blonde’s neck and cheeks and fought the urge to tease her on her slip up. Of course, Regina had been struggling with this, as well. She was trying to tell herself it was just sexual attraction and a power play. She couldn’t always deny her feelings, though, when she thought about what Emma was doing throughout the dark, or how she constantly worried about Rumple being able to trick her into the darkness.

 

There was something about the two women that was just so similar. They both had lost their youth. They both were isolated and lonely. The predictable way they both dealt with things by putting all their guards up was oddly comforting. Instead of acknowledging any of this, however, Regina focused on the other half of the equation. “You never told me that you had had feelings for Lily. Was there more to the story that you didn’t tell me?” She bravely tried to meet Emma’s emerald eyes, but the defiant blonde kept them focused in the distance. 

 

Emma had already been tense, yet she somehow tensed even more. She didn’t know how to talk about Lily to Regina. It felt wrong. She reached for some courage and answered, “I didn’t realize until recently that I had. I thought that I was just having normal best friend jealousy issues when I was a teenager. It wasn’t until recently that I understood what exactly was behind those feelings.” Emma had learned about the term “compulsory heterosexuality” on the internet one day when she had been sucked down the Wikipedia rabbit hole, and that made her rethink all of her previous interactions. She was enlightened when she thought about a day in high school when a girl gave her her sweatshirt on a cold day when her foster family had sent her without one, and all she could remember was thinking to herself, “you have to find the girl with the pretty eyes to give it back to her at the end of the day.” As a teenager, she thought that this was just simple admiration. As an adult, she realized that she did indeed have a crush on that girl. 

 

Regina’s eyes perked with a little sparkle at the admission, “And, what made you come to that realization, dear?” She said softly, while tucking a blonde curl behind Emma’s ear. 

 

Emma’s cheeks immediately flushed from light pink to beet red. When Regina got this close to her, she always felt like a high school girl all giddy and delirious. “I don’t know. I guess I never got jealous of my other friends when they left to go on an adventure or to be with some guy, but with her, when I was without her… it was awful. I would imagine her happy without me in her life and it would devastate me.” She looked at the ground. No matter how many years passed, she always would feel an inkling if abandonment from her. 

 

Regina rubbed her thumb across the back of Emma’s hand. She wasn’t sure of when she had grabbed it, but it felt like the natural thing to do. “I know your pain,” she offered, looking at their hands together. Regina had the overwhelming urge to lock her fingers in between Emma’s, but decided against it, keeping Emma’s hand in hers like the princess that she was. She didn’t want to scare her off with such a possessive move. 

 

“Well, seeing your soulmate with your sister must be worse.” Emma said quietly. She had a wave of embarrassment come over her. She felt selfish for talking about this when Regina had just been delivered a heavy blow. For all Emma knew, Regina desperately wanted to be with Robin, and Zelena was determined to ruin her sister’s happiness at all costs. She felt pangs of guilt as she thought about how Zelena was giving Robin the one thing that Regina couldn’t, because she had taken destiny into her own hands and made herself barren. Emma admired how Regina wouldn’t let a man or her mother take her fate away from her, but she knew that Regina may be second guessing herself in this situation, no matter how strong and past it she may seem. 

 

But that wasn’t what Regina had been thinking about when she made the comment about knowing a similar pain. She was thinking about all of the times that she had seen Emma and Hook together. She had thought about how it had always bothered her when he would wrap his arm around Emma’s waist, holding her like some sort of trophy. She had thought about how she had wanted to wipe that smug grin off of his face for treating Emma like she was the latest possession he had acquired. That pirate made Regina’s blood boil. She was not good at hiding it because she could feel her face snarl.

 

It had been several moments and Regina still had not responses to her comment. Emma could see a dark fury in Regina’s eyes and started to panic, thinking that she had caused it. “I-I’m sorry that I brought it up,” Emma stammered as she looked at the ground like a child who was in trouble.

 

Regina snapped out of it and looked at Emma’s green eyes, debating to take the leap. With Emma’s words in her head,  _ “The only  _ **_other_ ** _ woman I had  _ **_feelings_ ** _ for,” _ she swallowed, then exhaled slowly. Gathering the bravery to say the words, she straightened up and said, “I wasn’t thinking about them.”

 

Emma was confused. “Oh, sorry, I just.. I just had brought them up, then you looked pretty pissed, so I thought it was because of me..” she rattled off the words, not quite being able to control them. The word vomit of her stammering caused another blush to grace her cheeks. 

 

Regina bit her lip before speaking. “Actually, I was thinking about how I had recently had a similar revelation to the one that you had about Lily.” She held eye contact with the other woman, hoping that her eyes could say the rest for her. 

 

“What do you mean?” Emma asked, her eyes as innocent as a doe’s. 

 

“You are really that dense, aren’t you, Miss Swan?” Regina laughed as she teased her, trying to calm her nerves. She had committed, so she had to finish. “Do you really think it was easy for me to be around you and Hook?” Regina pursed her lips and waited for the blonde to comprehend what she was trying to say. 

 

“Well, you have always told me that anything between us was nothing. It’s not like I am in love with him, why does it matter to you?” Emma felt a little more defensive than she was expecting. Regina liked to ruffle her feathers, and Emma wasn’t quite convinced that it wasn’t what she was doing right then. 

 

“I have never said that what is between us is nothing.” Regina said with a regal tone. “Even if you don’t love him, everybody knows that you are together and that he wants you. I have seen him touch you. I don’t like to share.” Regina was speaking without thinking, something that she almost never did, and it was not going well for her. 

 

“Oh,” Emma said sadly as she looked at the ground. “This is all because the Queen doesn’t want some measly pirate paying with her toy?” Emma tried to stifle her anger, even though the heat of it threatened to envelope her.

 

“No, you idiot.” Regina replied. “It’s because I like you and want you all to myself.” The heat of the blood rushing to her face and neck from this rash revelation was creeping up on the Mayor. 

 

Emma’s jaw dropped. “You what?” She didn’t believe her own ears. Did Regina really just say that she liked her?? When was the other shoe going to drop? Emma discreetly pinched herself to make sure that she wasn’t in some dream. 

 

“I said I like you, you idiot,” Regina bantered. “Now, kiss me.” The brunette ordered as she took a step closer to the blonde, claiming all the space, and sucking all the air away. 

 

With her heart pounding in her ears and struggling to believe that this was real, Emma cupped Regina’s face and pulled her in for a kiss. She relished the few moments of contact between their skin. Although she could have stayed there forever, she forced their lips apart and rested her forehead against the Mayor’s. “There’s something I have to do,” Emma said, her breath coming out rapidly. She was going to do right by Regina. If the Queen of Self Loathing could say those things that Emma had been feeling, but too frightened to say, then she should be brave enough to end it with a man that barely even respected her as her own person. 

 

“Don’t take too long,” Regina said, trying to play it cool, when she was really pleading. Regina looked in Emma’s eyes with an intense longing, “I want to know your plans, and how involved in them I am.” She admitted. 

 

“I won’t, and you’re all of them.” Emma promised, as she gave the back of Regina’s hand a regal peck, then proceeded to finish with a snarky curtsy. She gave a wink and then walked off down the wharf to the marina. She needed to end things with Hook right away, and she was prepared to wake him up to do so.


	19. One Day I Won’t Be The When You Fall, It Doesn’t Mean I Wanted To Be Gone

In the last couple of weeks, Henry could tell that something was changing. He had noticed over the months that his moms had developed some sort of understanding of how to be civil towards each other. Then, it had turned into a friendship. Regina no longer grimaced when Emma’s name was brought up. To the contrary, it seemed to even brighten when Emma was mentioned or around. That was another thing that Henry had noticed that had changed. Emma had suddenly started to be around all of the time. She said that it was to help Regina find the Author, but some part of Henry sensed that it was because she loved spending the time with them. She liked being a part of their family.

 

Hook had sailed back to Neverland after his mom broke up with him, and made a big show of it all. Henry had never felt here nor there about the man, so when he left, there wasn’t a great deal of sadness or negative change in his life. He would always be grateful to Hook’s actions that he took in rescuing him from Neverland, but Henry could never tell if the man had actually made his birth mother happier, so it wasn’t much to miss when he had left. Sure, it was nice to have a guy around, but Henry had Charming, and Archie, and August, and so many others, that he didn’t really care one way or the other. He had gotten used to it just being him and his mom before, so he didn’t mind the company of women. The company of girls, however, made him feel a little awkward and embarrassed, still. He was sure that he could come to anyone in his life to talk about that when the time came, though, and honestly, Hook would not have been on his top five to talk to about that anyway. 

 

Emma came over one night and taught him how to make her homemade Mac and Cheese. Regina had pretended like she wouldn’t eat it, but after sprinkling from truffle salt on top (she always had to be a little bougie about everything, Emma laughed) they both noticed how she had scraped her bowl clean. Henry knew that his mom would have said something if she didn’t really like it, she wasn’t one to eat something someone made even if was horrible just to make the other person feel good. He had smiled when he realized that it was the first true family meal that they had made and shared from start to finish. 

 

They had settled into a rhythm of how to be a family together. After dinner, Henry would finish any schoolwork he had, or sometimes write his own stories for a bit, while his moms would hang out downstairs, drinking wine, watching movies, sometimes he would hear Emma play the guitar for Regina, sometimes Regina would join in on the piano. It was nice. They were happy. 

 

So when Henry had had awoken in Storybrooke that morning all alone, he knew that something had to have gone horribly wrong. On his nightstand, a book appeared. It looked remarkably like the one with their stories in it, except on it’s cover it glistened  _ Heroes and Villains  _ in a bold gold font in place of where the  _ Once Upon A Time  _ had been. Henry tore through the book, speed-reading every page. The story was all wrong. Snow White was evil? Regina was a bandit? Emma was.. nowhere to be mentioned. That worried him the most. It took him half of the morning, but he read every single word, and knew that this book meant trouble. 

 

In order to confirm his suspicions, he left the mayor’s mansion after he had finished reading the ass-backwards book. It was eerie how silent the city was. He walked down Main Street, there was nobody around. Granny’s was completely empty, everything was put up from closing down the night before. Gold’s shop was locked with no lights on. A little ways down, he checked Marco’s wood shop. Nothing. Nobody. His heart raced as his fears were confirmed. 

 

There was one last place he had to check before he made a plan of action: the loft. Running now, with the new book tucked under his arm, he broke a little sweat as he made it to the Charming’s loft. He delicately reached his hand out towards the knob. With a sigh, he twisted it easily. 

 

“Snow?? Neal?? Grandpa??” Henry called out. Nobody answered him. He collapsed on the bed, overwhelmed with emotions. Henry breathed deeply as he recognized his solitude and a single tear escaped his eye. He dabbed it away with his sleeve and started to steady himself. 

 

“I will always find you,” his grandparents’ words rang through his head. He knew that he had to do whatever he could to make this family tradition carry on. He had the Heart of the Truest Believer. As long as he was unselfish, brave, and true, he knew that he would be able to reunite his family. He sat up on the bed and started paging through the thick book looking for clues of how to get the ones he loved so dearly back. 

 

This wasn’t right. Something was incredibly wrong. All the people that had loved and supported him, the ones that should be living their best lives with their happy endings, those were the people who were most miserable in the book that he had found. Henry knew that there was only one person that would be able to correct this situation; the Author. This seemed like exactly the plot a salacious and narcissistic author would concoct. Henry was the only person left in Storybrooke, so the town was counting on him. He was their only hope. 

 

After some internet research, Henry discovered that the Author was going to have a signing for his wildly successful “novel” in New York later that day. Henry packed himself a lunch, grabbed the book, and his mom’s credit card. He bought a ticket for the first bus to New York. He was ready to confront this self-serving scoundrel of an author. He didn’t know exactly how their meeting was going to go down, but he had a few hours on a bus to get his strategy set straight. 

 

…

 

After the bus ride that Henry thought would never end, he finally stepped out on to the bustling streets of New York. He hadn’t been to New York since he came with his birth mother during Pan’s curse of Storybrooke almost a year before, but nothing seemed to have changed much. He loved all the sights and sounds and people. There was so much to be inspired by in the city. Maybe when he was older and all he dust had settled in Storybrooke, he might come back here to live as a writer, he thought to himself. 

 

Henry rattled off the monologue that he had prepared for the Author in his head one more time. He had the small magic key in his pocket, and the leather bound original draft of  _ Heroes and Villains _ tucked securely under his arm. He took a deep breath and remembered the Blue Fairy’s advice, to be “Unselfish, Brave, and True,” as he ascended the white marble staircase to the Author’s reception. It was held at some important building in the city, he could gather that by the grandeur of the columns and the dresses that the women around him wore. He worried about appearing out of place, but what he had to say wouldn’t take long, so he continued to march up the glistening stairs. 

 

As Henry reached the top of the flight, he saw the Author immediately. He was smugly signing copies of the prison that he had built for everyone that Henry had loved. Henry charged up to the Author, skipping the line to some of the audience’s dismay, and slammed the original copy of the book down on the signing table. 

 

The Author stared at the leather, taking a moment to comprehend when he was seeing. He slowly moved his eyes from the book up to meet Henry’s. He had forgotten about the kid. How could he have forgotten to write in the kid? He cursed himself. “How did you get this?” The Author inquired. His beady eyes flicked back and forth between Henry’s piercing ones. 

 

“I have the heart of the truest believer. Do you know what that means?” Henry asked fiercely. He went on, “It’s like the sword of Gryffindor. Shit appears to me when I need it most.” Henry hadn’t realized how quickly the anger could boil up in his skin. This whole day had been spent on a range of emotions from sad to doomed to determined, but he didn’t know that he would have such a visceral reaction to hearing the Author’s voice. He snarled his lip, pulled his eyes tighter, and stared at the man. Henry wasn’t religious, but this man sure seemed like the devil to him. 

 

The Author pulled his lips tightly along his teeth, “I see. Can we talk about this in private?” He motioned with his head to a hallway not too far from his signing table. 

 

“You bet your ass that we are going to talk about this in private.” Henry hissed through his teeth. Henry scooped up the book and stormed off down the hall, looking for another room that they could meet in. 

 

He heard the Author apologize to everyone, hammering on about a “family emergency” or some other bullshit. The fact that he was trying to play off to strangers that they were family sickened Henry. He came to a room whose door was ajar, and pushed it open to reveal a large supply closet with stacks of unsold books and cleaning supplies. This would have to do, he thought. He knew he was going to yell at the asshole who imprisoned his family, so he thought they might as well have a little privacy. 

 

He looked back and made eye contact with the Author, who was down the hall from him. Henry nodded his head towards the door. “In here, you damn snake.” He said before disappearing into the closet. He knew that his moms would not be happy about the amount he was cursing, but he was a teenager now, and the man of the family, so he figured he needed to do whatever he could to bring them back together, and cursing made him feel tougher. It gave him the courage to stand up to a town man playing games with the lives of an entire town. 

 

A minute later, the Author clamoured into the room behind him. He still had a hint of that smug look on his face, which irritated Henry to no end. He was going to permanently wipe that look from his bastard face if it was the last thing he ever accomplished. 

 

“WHAT have you done to them?!” Henry yelled after he heard the click of the latch on the door. His heart was pounding in his ears. He tried to breathe deeply to steady himself. As much as he wanted to hurt the Author physically, he knew that’s not what heroes did. 

 

“Everybody got the ending that they deserved,” the Author taunted. He had a crooked smile and a mischievous glint in his eye. He had no empathy for the townspeople, only ambition for himself. 

 

“No!” Yelled Henry, shaking his head furiously. “No, they didn’t! You know as well as I ‘deserved’ is too strong a word to write! Storybrooke is where they all belong. They are miserable!” Henry panted as his anger welled up inside his chest. “My moms have both worked too hard to get to where they are now. They don’t deserve to be stuck in your goddamned twisted fantasy world!” Henry’s hands were bunched into fists, shaking uncontrollably. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to hurt something or someone. He couldn’t remember a time in his life where he had ever been this angry. Maybe, he had never been this angry before, he thought. Contrary to Regina using anger to ignite her magic, she had always told him that anger was an unproductive emotion, and she had found other ways to channel Henry’s feelings. Now that she was gone, Henry struggled to remember those teaching, and felt the heat glowing inside of his fists. 

 

“Don’t you see, kid? This makes for a better story. Didn’t you see all of my beloved fans?” The Author gestured towards the end of the building that they had come from. “They all seem to like and appreciate what happens in my book.” He finished with a shit-eating grin. The Author loved to taunt people. He loved to see how far he could push them before they would break. He loved the drama of it all. 

 

“Because they don’t know that it is real!” Henry bellowed. “They don’t know that you are actually messing with people’s lives. Good people who deserve more than this. They deserve happy endings. Now, get them out!” Henry slammed his hands on the book, as if he could just pull them out himself. 

 

The Author laughed in Henry’s face. “And ruin everything I have going for myself now? HA! You are a very foolish boy.” The Author has begun to pace back and forth, which was making Henry anxious for some reason. Henry knew that the situation had escalated and that he was going to have to take some drastic measures. 

 

Henry fished around in his pocket for the small magical key that he had brought with him. He peeled it out of his pocket and held it up defiantly between him and the Author. “Remember this?” Henry said menacingly as he let the key gleam in the dim light of the room. The taunt dropped from the Author’s face immediately. “Do you remember what it was like to be locked away in a literary prison? To not have any power? To only record what you can see and hear? Because I will stick you back in there so fast that you will not be able to say ‘Happy Ending’ let alone your name. You were stuck in there for thirty years already, how does eternity sound?” Henry put the key up next to the door to the Author’s prison on the page he was holding up. He puffed out his chest for bravery, and slightly pushed the key forward to show that he wasn’t kidding around. 

 

“Go ahead,” the Author challenged, “Locking me in there will only ensure that your mothers and the rest of your family and loved ones stay in my new story forever. They only have until the bells toll, any way.” The Author has finished in a sing-song voice, reminiscent of Rumpelstiltskin. 

 

“The bells toll?” Henry thought to himself. He had read the book cover to cover on the bus ride down to New York. The only bells that he could remember in the book would have to be at the end, when Robin and Zelena were to be married in a small ceremony. His taunt must have been a clue to that part of the book. 

 

Henry looked at the sheet of paper with the door and the lock on it, when suddenly, an idea came to him. He opened his original edition of the Author’s new book and hurriedly flipped through the pages, until he found a picture of Regina. She was dressed like a bandit, fitting her role in this story. She had on a tight leather vest that was lined in fur and her dark hair was pulled into a braid over her shoulder. She looked so funny like that, Henry thought. She would never be caught dead with an outfit like that in Storybrooke. “This story really is all wrong,” he thought to himself. 

 

Henry flipped back a couple of pages to find a picture of the outside of Regina’s bandit hideout. It was a large tree with a hidden door. To the untrained eye, one would walk right past it without a second glance. If you looked very closely, however, you could see a tiny little key hole on a knot in the wood. “If you aren’t going to help save my family, I will!” Henry declared. Henry thrusted the key at the page and thankfully, it landed right in the keyhole. With a click, he turned the key. All of a sudden, an electricity which was like lightning filled the air. The room got hot and you could hear the buzz of the electric currents swirling through the air. The hair on his arms and the back of his neck stood up. 

 

“What have you done?!” The Author cried out, running towards Henry to stop the magic before it spread any further. He had not planned for this to happen and was scared of the consequences of Henry entering in and changing his story. 

 

The book was coming to life. When Henry had inserted the key, a yellow lightning was coming off of the page. The lightning grabbed at the key, pulling it into it’s pages. It seemed to melt like a wax sculpture on a hot day. The tendrils expanded and grew like kudzu, leaping a forming stronger as they found more things to wrap around. They leapt off of the page and around the air above it. They snaked around Henry’s arms, slowly enclosing more and more of his body after that. They had a warm sensation, like a hug from your loved one on your worst day. Before he could do or think anything else about the magic around them, the tendrils of lightning had completely engulfed him and pulled him into the book.

 

There was a darkness and a warmth as Henry fell through spacetime. He felt as though he were in a wormhole, which was the only way that he could describe the portal that he was being transported through. He couldn’t see anything no matter how hard he tried to look around him, but he guess that there must not be anything to see in between the vastness of realms. After an eternity of endless falling, colors came back to him, and Henry landed with a thud.

 

Henry opened his eyes to take in his surroundings. It was amazing, he was actually in the book! He looked in front of him at his mom’s hideout. It was exactly how it had been on the paper, but now he could touch the roots. It was real. Or at least a version of real. He straightened himself out and dusted himself off. They were in some version of the Enchanted Forest. Although, Henry thought, it might as well be the Disenchanted Forest, since everyone that he knew and loved was living their unhappy ending. He took a deep breath, raised a fist, and tentatively knocked on the hideout door.


	20. I’m Way Too Tired to Reminisce Over the Things That I Have Lost That I Don’t Miss

There were a series of knocks on the door. “Fuck,” Regina thought as she grabbed her bow and arrows. Who could have found me? Why are they knocking instead of storming in? She plucked an arrow from her quiver and delicately placed it in her bow before opening the peephole that she had installed, which was a rotating circle of bark, about the size of an orange. She rested the tip of the arrowhead in the opening while she looked at the ruffle-haired teenage boy in strange clothes. “Who are you?” She beckoned. The string was tight on her bow, ready to snap if this was part of some elaborate ruse.

 

They boy straightened up and puffed out his chest, trying to be brave. He stated, “My name is Henry, and I am your son.” He looked at the sliver of light that had appeared, eager to see his mother again. 

 

Regina scoffed, “You must have me confused with someone else, kid. I am barren.”

 

“Regina, please, listen to me. Hear me out.” The boy pleaded.

 

Something about the way the boy had said her name had pulled on her heartstrings. She threw the door open, but still had her weapon focused on the boy. “How do you know my name?” Regina demanded. “Did the Queen send you?”

 

Henry held his hand that wasn’t holding the book up in the air to show his surrender. “No. My name is Henry Mills. I am from another realm. A realm where you adopted me as a baby. I can prove to you that this isn’t reality.” Henry quickly reached for the book.

 

“Ah!” The noise came from Regina’s throat as she took a step closer. She had her eyebrows tightly knit and was determined to not let the boy arm himself. 

 

“Relax,” Henry said, putting his hand back up in surrender, “I just need to show you something from this book that I have.” He opened the book to the page with Regina on it, and reached in her direction to give it to her.

 

Regina finally lowered her weapon and took the book brashly from the boy. “What is this supposed to prove?” She asked, looking down at the page.

 

“Turn to page 108, that’s how I got here.” Henry instructed.

 

Regina let the corners of the pages fall from her thumb until she landed on the one that he brought up. She scanned it, and stopped to read the words that opposed a picture of her. When she processed the words on the page, she realized it was sharing in precise detail how she was going to rob a royal carriage later that day. Regina’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the boy. “What are you, some kind of sorcerer?” She accused. “How did this book know my plans? Can it tell the future?” She closes it and placed it on the table near the boy. She didn’t trust it. She didn’t trust anyone. In her time alone, she came to the understanding that she could only rely on herself. 

 

“That is what I was trying to tell you,” Henry explained, “Your plans aren’t ours. The Author of this book placed you and everyone else in here to fulfill some kind of twisted fantasy of his. We only have until sundown to make this right. Will you help me?” The boy’s face looked so hopeful, Regina almost wanted to say yes right away. He didn’t seem to be threatening, but that hardly did anything to soothe Regina’s nerves about a stranger showing up to her hideout with intimate knowledge about her. 

 

“Help you?” Regina laughed. “Kid, I don’t even know you. It’s kind of an every man for himself world out here.” She hardly had time to deal with the fantasies of adventure of a lost teenage boy. 

 

“Please, mom,” Henry begged. His big beautiful eyes pleaded with hers silently to believe him. His bravado has shrunk and it was apparent from his tone that he was becoming more desperate. 

 

“Stop calling me that, I am not your mother.” Regina retorted. She was headstrong and had been fooled by men before, and just because he was younger, she wouldn’t let him win her over in any easy way. 

 

“But you are. You adopted me.” Henry was starting to get pitiful. He held back the glisten in his eyes. He knew he was going to have to convince Regina but had no idea that she would be this headstrong. 

 

“Well, why don’t you go and find your other mother?” Regina asked, trying to amuse the boy. “Maybe she would be more likely to listen to your crazy ramblings.”

 

Henry looked at the ground, “I don’t know where she is.” He admitted. “I thought maybe since you had been in this realm longer than me, that you might know where she is.” Henry swallowed and continued, “Her name is Emma Swan. In our world, she was known as the Savior.”

 

As soon as Henry had dropped the last word, he saw Regina’s jaw clench. Her eyes were in the distance, intentionally avoiding Henry’s. Apparently in this realm, Regina did not know just how perseptive Henry could be.

 

“So, you have heard of her!” Henry said as he tried to contain his excitement. There was no doubt in his mind that she would have heard of Emma if Emma was trapped in here with the rest of their town, and her subtle change in body language keyed him in. 

 

“I never said anything.” Regina started and then pursed her lips. She berated herself internally for not being able to keep her face more stoic. Maybe this kid was just good at reading between the lines of micro expressions. 

 

“Well, then, what do you know?” Henry questioned. “My birth mom has a superpower to detect lies and I am pretty sure that I inherited it, so don’t try to pull anything on me.” Henry threatened.

 

“Alright, kid. I have heard about a woman who was calling herself ‘the Savior’ a while ago. She was mucking up all kinds of trouble and the Evil Queen wasn’t having it.” Regina drew in a breath and steadied herself for the information she was about to give the supposed son of the Savior. It wasn’t going to be easy, but he needed to hear it. “From my understanding, she snatched her up in the middle of the night, and has her locked away in a tower somewhere in her castle.” She made eye contact with Henry to make sure he understood the gravity of what he was asking, “It will be heavily defended and the Queen is not someone that you want to cross, trust me. She wants me dead. She thinks that I ruined her life.” Regina finished with her eyes looking at the floor. Even through the Queen’s wrath was disproportionately undeserving, she still felt guilty about how she had betrayed the woman. 

 

Henry looked at he with his eyes full of honesty and asked, “Did you?” In the purest little voice that he could muster. It was awkward, but he didn’t know what else to say to her. 

 

Regina bent her head down in shame, “Yes.” She refused to make eye contact with the boy for fear that he would be able to tell her weakness. 

 

“Well, in my realm, you and Snow have reconciled. Help me get back to my mom, and you can get back, too. You don’t have to live in fear anymore.” Henry offered. He was a brave young man on a mission to reunite his family and the first step was convincing his mom that this fight was worth it. 

 

“Have you ever stopped to think maybe I deserve this, Henry?” Regina tried to restrain the volume of her voice. She desperately wanted to believe what this boy, who shared the same name as her beloved father, was telling her. After years of blaming and hating herself, it was hard to imagine a life beyond her immediate surroundings. Hating herself was something that was familiar to Regina in any realm. 

 

“You deserve your happy ending, mom. We can go find my other mother, then take on the Author all together. We can force him to give us the happy ending that we were supposed to have, instead of the shit-stained upside down one.” Henry finished, and looked to his mom for confirmation of his words sinking in. 

 

Something inside Regina made her want to scold the boy for cursing, but she didn’t know what or why. Maybe it was an inkling of a maternal instinct. Something about this kid made her want to believe the delusional things that he was saying. How much could it really hurt? She decided. At worst, she wasted a day traipsing around the kingdom with a kid with an overactive imagination. At best, she could escape this hell hole to some other land with a life not governed by fear or flight instincts.

 

Regina turned and started rummaging through some drawers. She grabbed a few small pouches and then went to the armoire. She threw the cabinet doors apart to reveal a shield and a collection of swords. She tossed the shield at Henry, “You’re going to need this,” she said. “Do you know how to wield a sword, kid?” Regina asked with an arched eyebrow, hoping that he wasn’t as useless as his strange clothes made him out to look. 

 

“Of course! My grandpa taught me!” Henry said, excited that she was going to indulge him and help him try to find Emma. He smiled when he thought about the memory of Charming and him faux-dueling on the streets of Storybrooke. 

 

“Alright, then. Pick one out.” Regina gestured at the swords. She turned her back to the boy and continued to pack some small objects up in the satchel she had found. 

 

Henry eyed all of the swords. There were five total. They all had different shapes. Some were flatter and heavier, while others were rounder and skinnier. He settled on a moderate looking one, with a golden hilt and rubies encrusting the base. He knew he should be particular and meticulous about picking his weapon, but something about this sword specifically called out to him. It had a good weight to it in his hand, so he grabbed the accompanying holster and started to fasten it to himself. He turned around to Regina smiling at him.

 

“What?” Henry asked. “Do I look stupid? Am I wearing it wrong?” He was not accustomed to the garb of the Enchanted Forest and was feeling a little self conscious. He looked down at himself and wondered if this had been a test from the woman, to see if he was worthy, or something. A thousand different scenarios quickly flashed through his mind and he looked to the dark haired woman to find some reassurance. 

 

“No, it’s not that at all. You look handsome.” She eyed the gawky teenager, remembering how awkward she had felt at that point of her life. He seemed to have a good heart and a keen mind, and the sword looked to genuinely fit him. “It’s just funny to me that you chose that sword out of all of them in my collection. You claim to be my son, and that is my father’s sword. You share the same name, and now you share the same weapon. It’s kind of poetic in a way..” Regina pulled a tight little smile between her lips. She missed her father dearly. 

 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Henry faltered, perceiving her look as less than positive, “I can put it back. It just looked like it would be the most practical. It is a good weight and length, without being too heavy. But, if it’s sentimental, I can choose a different one.” He fiddled with the holster, trying to take it off after he had just managed to secure it around his waist. 

 

“No, keep it,” Regina encouraged. “That is exactly why my father had it forged in the first place. He wanted something light, but not breakable, as well as something that looked good on it. He hired his best smith to forge it. It suits you.” She looked at the boy with pride, if he was right about all of this Heroes and Villains nonsense, she knew her father would want him to have it for their quest. 

 

Henry beamed. He had never gotten to meet his grandfather because of well, the whole curse thing. To actually have a family heirloom from his fairy tale past was the coolest thing for a boy like him. A boy who, until recently, didn’t know anything of his bloodline, only the mundane repetition of life in Storybrooke. He was sure that this quest would redeem Regina from any last negative feelings people may have of her from the original curse that she had cast on the town. 

 

“The Queen’s castle is about an hour’s hike away.” Regina said as she collected a number more things for her satchel. There were a number of different items in there, with not much room for them to move about. 

 

“What is all the stuff that you are putting in there?” Henry inquired. He thought that she was packing a lot for only an hour or so long trip, but knowing his mom, there had to be a reason for every item she was packing. 

 

“Oh, just some things that might be useful when we get there.” Regina said. “Explosive powder, poppies, gold, an extra pair of boots, whatever could potentially be practical or handy on our journey. We need to be prepared. I know this tower is guarded, but I have no clue what it is guarded by.” Regina threw the last few things in her satchel and began to buckle it up. “You ready, kid?” She asked Henry.

 

“Always.” Henry affirmed. “Hey, mom-” he started. 

 

“Kid, I told you to quit calling me mom. We are about to go and find your mother, right?” Regina snipped. 

 

“Sorry.” Henry said, looking down. 

 

“I’m sorry, too. I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s just weird, you know, some strange teenager coming to my door and proclaiming to be my son, when I have been told my entire life that I could not bare children. You have to meet me halfway, kid. This shit is kind of a lot.”

 

“Right.” Henry nodded. “I get it. I was just wondering… what do you think the tower is guarded by? A dragon? I’m a decent swordsman, but I’m no knight… I don’t know if I could take on a real dragon..” 

 

Regina could tell that the boy was nervous. “Haven’t thought your whole plan through, have you, kid?” Regina laughed, trying to lighten the mood. When Henry didn’t laugh with her she continued, “Dragons are few and far between, these days, kid. I don’t think it’s something that we will really have to worry about. Plus, it takes time, effort, and patience to train a dragon to protect something that isn’t naturally their’s, like an egg or something, and none of those things the Queen has.” Regina ruffled the boy’s already messy hair. 

 

“Okay. Phew.” Henry said with a sigh of relief. A full on dinosaur with wings would be a lot to handle on his first day of being in the Disenchanted Forest. “Need help with anything?” Henry offered. 

 

“I think this is about it,” Regina said as she flung the satchel over her back with a strap on either side of her. “Let’s go save the Savior, I guess.” She said as she opened the door to her home. 

 

The two of them left the protection of the enchanted tree house and started off on their trek to save Emma, and really, everybody else from Storybrooke, too.

  
  



	21. All You Need Is A Little Help, If Not From Me, Maybe Someone Else

Emma woke up and was instantly panicked. The smell of damp stone filled her nostrils as she came to on the cold, hard ground. Her shoulders aches from the hunched over fetal position that she was in. Her neck was stiff. It took her a second to get her bearings. One minute she was in Storybrooke, laying down after a nice dinner with Henry and Regina at their place, then the next.. nothing. Then, here. She was shackled in a brick stone room in an indigo dress that she would have never bought for herself. Her heart was racing; pulsing in her ears, and making them hot. She shook the shackles around her wrists. They were heavy, solid metal with no way for her to break out of them. 

 

She screamed. The Author. He had done this. He had figured out a way to trap them here. Where was everyone else? How long had they been in this newly constructed Hell? She had no answers to any of her questions. She tried using magic to unlock her shackles, but had no luck. Somehow the Author had taken her magic away from her. “Fuck!” She yelled. How was she supposed to be The Savior if she couldn’t even save herself? Was this a test? To see what she would do to gain her freedom? Emma didn’t have a clue. She listened intently but didn’t hear anything; there were no feet shuffling, no sobs, no mice scuttling around. She was fairly observant given her background as a street kid and a bail bondsperson, and the lack of noise struck her to her core. The silence was deafening. 

 

She pulled at the restraints. Nothing. They were bolted around her wrists. Emma shook the chains. They probably weighed about fifty pounds each. Together, they would weigh almost as much as her. That much extra weight was bound to slow her down. Emma was glad that they were only on her arms, and not her legs, though. If she could break them free, she might could use them as a weapon. As much as she didn’t want to be carrying around the extra weight, she didn’t have any better ideas, though. 

 

The Savior bent down to the floor and saw where the chains were bolted in. There were only two thick black iron bolts per chain, about the size and shape of a railroad spike, with a metal bar in between, clamping the chain to the ground masonry. Emma started running the bottom link back and forth, back and forth, hoping that eventually, the friction would free the shackle from the masonry. It was a slow going and time consuming process, but with no other option, she proceeded to get to work. 

 

As she tried to erode the stone, she thought about all the people in the town. She thought about her mom and dad, where were they? Were they safe? Or were they captive like her? There was a small window on the other side of the room, but the chains were too short to see out of it. She couldn’t tell what floor she was on, what the building looked like, or if there were other prisons cells like this one around her. For all she knew, everyone she knew and loved was shackled up like she was, or even worse, they had some other sort of twisted unhappy ending. 

 

Emma worried about Henry. Her son had been through so much in his short life, would he be stuck in this hellhole as well? She hoped he had managed to escape some how. Hopefully, he was with Regina, like he had been as Emma had left the mansion the previous night. She knew she could trust Regina to look after Henry with her life. 

 

A tear came to her eye. Regina. If Emma’s magic didn’t work here, that would mean that Regina’s didn’t either. That was the only way Regina knew how to fight, and without it, Emma worried that the beautiful woman would be left defenseless. Emma scraped back and forth faster, determined to release the chains from the floor and break free of whatever strange prison that she was in. 

 

… 

 

The hour long hike went by fast, despite neither of them saying much. They reached the crest of the last hill, and laid down on their stomachs to see the tower. They were separated from the tower that Emma was locked in by a deep crevice that had all sorts of jagged rocks at the bottom of it. There was a small bridge that connected the two hillsides, but there was no way for them to get across without alerting the Black Knights that were under the control of the Queen in this realm. Regina drew her binoculars from her satchel and scanned their mark. She scoffed, and gave the binoculars to Henry. “You see that?” Regina asked, nodding toward the opposing landscape. 

 

“See what?” Henry responded. There wasn’t much to see outside of the tower.

 

“Exactly,” Regina said. “I think that the Queen must have spread rumors about how guarded this tower was just so people wouldn’t even have the nerve to try.”

 

Henry thought for a beat. “I guess that is a good strategy. If you are intimidating enough, the average person won’t try to challenge you on that. At least it is not a dragon, right? I was worried about that.” Henry chuckled before taking a deep breath, “So.. what’s our plan?” Henry was eager to start their mission, as daylight seemed to be ticking away. He had noticed that the sun had reached the apex of it’s path already, and he remembered from science class that the closer that the sun is the the horizon, the faster it disappears. He swallowed some of the dryness from his mouth. Now was the time to be brave, Henry reminded himself internally. He wanted to show Regina that he was worthy of her father’s sword. “How are we going to complete Operation Peach?” He finally inquired. 

 

“Operation Peach?” Regina said, bewildered, as she continued to scan the outside of the tower through the binoculars. 

 

Henry explained, “Back home, we would come up with a code name for all of our missions. This one is Peach, like Princess Peach, because we have to save her from the monster’s castle.” He laughed a little bit, remembering how Regina pretended to hate video games, always monitoring how long he played, and refusing to buy the rated mature ones because she didn’t want Henry to think that gun violence was ok, but despite everything, his mom would always get sucked in whenever he needed a second player. 

 

“Okay, kid, whatever floats your boat,” Regina laughed and pulled the binoculars from her eyes. “Alright, from what I can see, there are four guards. There are two sentries at the top of the tower, one at the base, and one outside the door that she is presumably locked in.” She gave Henry a very serious look with her eyes when she said her next sentence, “I want to take care of this covertly, kid, so don’t go all swing happy with that sword unless I tell you to, got it?” Her glare could cut deeper than the sword on his hip. 

 

Henry had kind of hoped that he could bust out his action hero skills, but she was right. If they could get in and out without making a big scene, it would be better for all of them in the long run. Especially with the guards at the top of the tower, because they would get a signal out to the Evil Queen and she could send reinforcements quicker than they could get out of the tower. With the end of the day looming over them, Henry knew they couldn’t afford any setbacks. 

 

Regina rummaged until she found a certain pouch from her satchel. She delicately opened it by untwisting the leather drawstrings that had cinched it shut. It was filled with some off white, almost cream colored, paste that had a certain.. distinguished odor to it. Regina started to coat her arrowheads with it by gently dipping them into the pouch, skillfully twirling them between her thumb, index, and middle fingers, and then placing them next to her. 

 

“What is that?” Henry asked. His nose scrunched a bit at the smell. 

 

“Binder,” Regina replied, “made from pig fat. Hold your breath, I am about to get the poppies out. If you inhale the dust, well..” Regina started, then looked the boy up and down, trying to find a way to explain hat she was effectively momentarily poisoning these guards, “It’s quite potent and you won’t be much help to anybody.” Regina closed the pouch with the binder in it and opened another filled with a fine black dust. She carefully dipped five arrowheads into it, just enough for the guards to take a nice nap. Hopefully, she thought, the guards would be unconscious long enough to make sure the trio had time to escape, with nobody the wiser. When the last tip was coated, she carefully closed the pouch, and put it back in her satchel, then let out a long exhale.

 

Regina looked at Henry. “Okay. I am going to take out the two at the top first, because they are the ones that would warn others with some long distance signals or some shit,” Regina explained. She mounted an arrow on her bow, focused her eyes, and pulled the bowstring back so far that Henry thought it would surely snap. Before the arrow even got to its mark, she had reloaded and fired the second poppy-coated arrow. Within a second of each other, both of the sentries fell to the ground.

 

“Awesome shot, mom!” Henry said excitedly as he pumped his hand in the air. 

 

“Hush. I’ve only gotten half of them,” Regina replied. Regina was nervous that his glee would have caught the attention of the remaining guard, but it seemed as though she had caught him in time. 

 

Regina swiftly pulled a third arrow from the quiver and loaded it onto her bow. She exhaled and released her fingertips, hitting the guard on the underside of their crooked arm, and they quickly fell to the ground as well. 

 

Without even looking back at her quiver, Regina grabbed a non-coated arrow. She sat her sights on the window outside of the door to the room at the top of the tower and release the plain arrow. With astonishing accuracy and speed, she loaded her bow a final time with a dipped arrowhead. She had reloaded and fired so quickly that when the glass to the window broke, the guard didn’t even have time to react before he felt a small prick and the sudden unbelievable weight of his eyelids. He staggered and fell back against the wall.

 

“Alright, let’s go! Be quick!” Regina ordered before standing up to run across the bridge that connected the hill that they were currently on to the hill that the tower was on. Henry clamoured up and followed in her tracks, easily matching her gait. It was a tad bit awkward to run with a sword, but he was determined, and determination can compensate for a lot of things. 

 

They crossed the stone bridge together, with no noise except their panting and their footsteps on the hard grey bridge. They saw up close the knight that was guarding the door. He was dressed in all black, with the arrow still sticking out of him. Regina gave it a firm yank and placed it back in her quiver. The knight was blissfully unconscious and unaware of the pair.

 

Regina opened the heavy door at the base of the tower with both of her hands and her weight thrown behind her. Once inside, she motioned for Henry to follow her up. They ascended the curving stairs for what felt like too long, both of their heart rates elevated, and both were trying to keep from panting. As they reached the top, they heard a noise.

 

“Shit.” Regina muttered. They rounded the final corner and saw that the knight had stood up and was bracing himself on the wall. Regina hadn’t counted on any of the guards having a tolerance to poppies from being a junkie. Regina immediately spotted the ring with two keys on it attached to the knight’s hip.

 

With all of her might, Regina ran up the last ten stairs and slammed the guard into the stone wall. She jerked the ring free from his waist, and triumphantly tossed them to Henry. With her weight still against the guard she yelled, “You, kid, go and free Emma! I will take care of him!”

 

Henry caught the keys firmly in his hand. He found the bigger of the two keys and placed it in between his thumb and forefingers before he ran to the door on the landing where his mom and the guard were wrestling. He steadied his hand as the key penetrated the lock. With a satisfying click, the heavy door swung open.

 

Inside revealed a meager room, with not much in it besides stone. There was a broken shadow of a person slumped on the floor from exhaustion. She was wearing an indigo blue dress that Henry had never seen before, but those blonde curls were unmistakable. Slowly, she looked up through those messy locks and made eye contact with him. 

 

Henry had been so focused on getting to his mother that he hadn’t actually thought about what he was going to say to her when he actually found her. He tentatively stepped into the room, his palms outstretched towards the ground to show that he wasn’t a threat. “Hi… my name is-“ he started.

 

“Henry!” Emma cried.

 

“Mom?” Henry questioned. Did she really know who he was?

 

“Henry!” Emma called, more excited this time.

 

“You… you remember?” Henry asked animatedly. He hadn’t expected this kind of reunion. 

 

“I knew you would find me,” Emma echoed the loving words that her parents had always held for each other.

 

Henry ran up and embraced his mother hard, fighting back the tears in his eyes. He had been worried about his ability to convince both of his mothers that they were in a story, especially how long it had taken Emma to believe him the first time around. They really didn’t have time for that now and he thanked fate that he didn’t have to go through that again. Plus, he didn’t have any poisoned apples to show her with this time. 

 

“I don’t understand,” Henry said, releasing his mother from his grasp. “How come you remember and nobody else does?” He finished as he looked his mother in the eyes. 

 

“It must have all been a part of Gold’s plan,” she offered. “My punishment in this world is that I know the truth, but I am powerless to do anything about it.” Emma looked down at her shackled hands, and tried her best to not sound defeated as she admitted to her son, “I don’t have magic, Henry.” 

 

Henry saw the desperate look in his mother’s eyes. “That’s okay. I think I know what we need to do.” He reassured her. He bent down and tried to place the smaller key in the lock on Emma’s wrist. It was too big. He jammed and tried to force it in to no avail. The corners of his mouth fell. He heard the crashes of the struggle beyond the door, which only made him more frantic to free his mother. “I don’t know why it’s not working,” Henry admitted, trying to hold the tears in his eyes. 

 

“It’s okay, kid, we will figure something out,” Emma said bravely as she looked around the room for something to help them. 

 

Henry put his face in his hands and rested his elbows on his thighs. That’s when he felt something small and dense in his pocket. The key! He remembered. He quickly fished the small thick key out of his jeans and presented it to Emma with a smile. “This key is magic! It brought me here! Maybe you could make it work?” He said before handing it to his mother. 

 

She grabbed it from him and tried to put it in the shackle, but she didn’t have any success. “I don’t think it’s the right shape. I’m sorry. I don’t think it will work.” She looked at the ground as she handed the key back to Henry. 

 

Henry received it in his outstretched palm and stared at it. Like a bolt of lightning, a flash of clarity came over him. “I have the Heart of the Truest Believer!” He said. “All I have to do is  _ believe  _ that this is the right key, and it will be!” Henry focused on the small key in his hand. He believed it would be able to free his mom. He  _ knew  _ that it could. 

 

Emma was apprehensive, but didn’t want to discourage the boy. She watched him as he focused all of his energy on the small metal object. She wanted to believe him. She wanted to be free. Just like that, the key started shifting. It melted in Henry’s hand to a silver puddle and reformed like a phoenix from the ashes into a more slender looking key. Emma was so thankful that even though her son didn’t possess magic that he could still harness it for her. He was so brave and intuitive. He had started to become all of the things she had wished for him over the years as she would mourn the loss of giving him up. Regina had been strict with him, but he was all the better for it. 

 

Beaming with pride and excitement, Henry thrust the newly formed key into the lock on her wrist and turned it with his thumb and pointer finger slowly. A small “click” echoed through the stone room before the shackle fell to the ground. Unable to contain his smile, he quickly released the other shackle to the ground as well. He did it! He freed his mother! He knew that they couldn’t spend long on their reunion because of their time constraints, but he was so happy to have the most important parts of his family back together again, even if Regina didn’t realize it, yet. 

 

With her hands unobstructed by chains, Emma wrapped her arms around her son, who was barely shorter than her now. She picked him up slightly while hugging him tightly and whispered, “Thank you,” into his ear over and over. Her fingertips were bloody from where she was trying to free herself, but she didn’t pay them any mind as she drew her son in closer. 

 

After a moment, she broke the embrace and sized her son up and down. He was still wearing his Storybrooke clothes, with a beautiful sword tied to his hip. He was starting to look more like a man than a boy, Emma noticed. She smiled at him and asked, “So, kid… what now?”

 

“There is a wedding tonight between Robin and Zelena, and that is where the Author is going to be.” Henry started, “We can find him and force him to stop all of this and give us back the happy ending we had all found in Storybrooke living together.”

 

“And… you think he will just  _ do _ that?” Emma questioned her son. She knew Henry was a smart kid but he was still a kid nonetheless; he was still a child who could be more naive than he realized. 

 

“I have the key and the page to his prison. Unless he wants to be alone for the rest of eternity, he better do it.” Henry beamed at his plan. 

 

“Alright, kid. Sounds like a plan.” Emma said. “How’s Regina?” She asked.

 

“She’s… um… different.” Henry let out a little laugh. “She is like Enchanted Forest Snow White in this realm, and she doesn’t remember or believe that I am her son.”

 

“Hopefully that will change soon,” Emma encouraged.

 

“Maybe you could help!” Henry got excited. “Maybe if you gave her a kiss, it could bring back her memories!”

 

Emma froze. What did he just say? “Uh.. um.. kid.. I don’t think it works like that.” Emma stuttered awkwardly.

 

“Why not?” Henry asked, “We are a family now, and families love each other. So, if you gave her a quick little kiss on the forehead or something, why wouldn’t that work? Love is nothing scared of success.” His dark eyes full of the natural inquisition of a child.

 

Emma was so relieved. She was worried that Henry may have caught onto the fact that things had been changing between Emma and Regina lately, but she was not ready to talk to him about that, yet. She thanked his pure and innocent heart. “I doubt that Regina would let a stranger get that close to her, kid, if she has any of her normal personality leftover from before this.” Emma laughed as she massaged her wrists where the shackles had been. 

 

The sounds of a struggle that had been coming from beyond the door stopped. With a thunderous crash, that only could have been the sound of the knight relentlessly tumbling down the endless turns of stairs. 

 

A moment later, the bandit Regina strolled through the door, breathing heavily, with a light layer of sweat glistening on her forehead. She looked the blonde up and down, taking in her floor length blue dress. “You..” she started, “Must be Emma.” She finished slowly. The redness in her cheeks could have been easily explained by her physical bought with the guard, but it deepened as she made eye contact with the Savior’s compelling emerald eyes. 

 

“Regina.” Emma couldn’t remember any other words except for the name of the beautiful woman before her.

 

“Well, I am glad that I brought you a change of clothes.” Regina said as she reached for her satchel. “That outfit isn’t exactly ideal for traipsing around the kingdom.” She grabbed a pile from her bag and handed it to Emma. Their fingers brushed with the exchange, and a spark went through both of them without either one acknowledging it. 

 

Henry widened his eyes at Emma and nodded his head toward his other mother. Regina noticed and had a puzzled expression on her face. She turned to Emma for an explanation. 

 

Emma let out a breath, “Huh. Well. Um.” She faltered. “Would you mind if I kissed your forehead? Henry seems to think that it might help with your memories.” Emma reluctantly said. Her heart pounded in her ears as she patiently waited for a response from the magnificently radiant older woman. She didn’t know if she actually wanted to do it or not, but giving the power of making that decision to Regina had felt like every other time in their relationship where Regina had the upper hand was crashing down around her. 

 

Regina thought about the proposition for a minute. On one hand, it didn’t hurt anybody, but on the other hand, she had no clue who this woman and her son were and she didn’t know if there was some secret meaning behind this gesture. She decided it would be better to be safe than sorry with this strange duo and decided to decline the offer. “Sorry, Savior, I would love to humor you, but who knows how long it has been since you had proper hygiene? No offense, I know it’s not your fault that you were stuck here.” Regina said to Emma. She noticed the sad look on Henry’s face. She had an inexplicable urge to make him feel better. “Look,” Regina started, “Obviously, I am in this. I am risking my life for you both on the slight glimmer that this might very well be some horrible dream world. Or maybe, you both are just fucking nuts. I guess we will see in a bit. What is the plan?” She asked her son. 

 

Emma was equal parts relieved and disappointed that she wouldn’t have to be kissing Regina right then and there. She held up the clothes that we bundled in her hands. “Well, I guess I am going to change into these, then we are going to go and crash a wedding to steal the Author and make him give you your happy ending.”

 

Regina scoffed, “Thanks, but a man isn’t my happy ending.”

 

Something inside of Emma perked up when she heard those words leave Regina’s mouth. Emma knew Regina wasn’t awake, and she knew Regina was referring to the wedding, but the fact that she had phrased it like that made a prickle of hope poke out of Emma’s chest. “I never said that, Regina.” Emma smirked. “Just that, well, he sort of created this entire realm, so he is probably the only one who can get us all back to where we belong.”

 

“This Author is just going to give us our happy endings?” Regina sarcastically asked. She doubted even more than Emma that this plan would go through smoothly and unhitched. 

 

“I have something that can persuade him,” Henry said proudly. “I am sure that he will cooperate.”

 

“Well, in that case, we better get a move on,” Regina said, “The shadows are already getting longer, and I would hate to her around when those poppies wear off.” Regina finished and straightened herself out.

 

“You two, go ahead, I’ll change really quickly, and meet you at the bottom.” Emma said, although she had thought about changing in front of Regina to see how she would react. Emma’s gut told her this wasn’t the time or place, so she hurriedly peeled off her dress and changed into the hunting outfit that Regina had provided her with. She had a light linen button up long sleeve shirt and some durable pants on. On top of her shirt, she adorned a stiff leather vest that would act as light armor if she needed it. Lastly, she laced up her matching leather boots and slid on her elbow length leather gloves. Once she secured her belt around her waist, she tied her blonde curls back in a ponytail. Emma caught a glimpse of herself in the reflection of the window. She looked like she should be Prince Charming herself, she thought with a laugh. She straightened herself out, and bolted down the stairs to meet up with her counterparts.

 

“You look good,” Regina said as Emma came into view. 

 

Emma bit down on her lip to distract her other nerves from turning her cheeks bright red. This realm’s Regina was a lot more direct than the previous ones. Emma then smiled at Regina before she turned to look at their son. 

 

“Henry, hand your mother the sword.” Regina instructed. 

 

Henry grumbled, but he knew his mom would need it without her magic, so he didn’t protest too much. He undid the sword from his boy and held it out for Emma to grab. 

 

After she secured the sword to her body, Emma looked at Regina and asked, “Which way to the wedding?”

 

“It’s about three miles that way,” Regina pointed toward where the sun would set later that day. They gathered up their belongings, locked the guards inside the tower with the small key that was on the keyring that Henry had held onto. With that, the three heroes set off on the course to find their happy endings.

  
  



	22. All I Need Is You And You Alone

The trio had hiked as fast as they could, short of running. Regina lead the way, this was her world, after all. She couldn’t help but feel the overwhelming sense of Déjà vu as she walked through the forest with the beautiful blonde and her son. Did she really know them in another life? She thought to herself. It seemed odd that they were both so comfortable around her. Even more odd, to her, was the sense of ease that she had around them both. The feeling of calmness and a certain sort of human connection passed through her as she hiked with the two apparent strangers. Either they were both crazy, it did happen that way sometimes, or they were going to figure out how Regina could live her life without being afraid of the Evil Queen. She contemplated what it would all mean if they succeeded on their mission as she marched on through the trees. 

 

Henry was behind Regina and in front of Emma. He clasped the story book under his right elbow and stepped carefully behind Regina’s footprints, hoping that if he followed her closely enough, they wouldn’t make too much noise and could sneak up on the wedding. They were so close to having their lives back; the life that they had all created together. He couldn’t wait to cook Mac and cheese with Emma, to have Regina fuss at them for not including any vegetables in their meal, to taking turns reading to each other out loud on the porch as the sun slowly disappeared on the horizon. It all seemed so… normal. That’s all he wanted. He wouldn’t let himself even think about the alternative or if they failed because he believed that there was no way that they could. 

 

Emma brought up the rear of the group. Trudging through the forest with a four foot blade strapped to your hip was less than ideal. She smirked at the thought of her doing it all in that indigo dress, though, and silently thanked Regina for bringing the light armor and the pants for her to change into. She felt much more comfortable like that; the princess thing never quite suited her. She would rather be the hero saving the damsel from distress. “Wow, that was pretty gay,” she chuckled as she thought to herself. 

 

Regina heard the noise and turned back at Emma to see what was so funny. She squinted her eyes as she surveyed the blonde. This only made her laugh again, to which the brunette rolled her eyes and turned her head back forward. 

 

Emma was entranced by the swaying of Regina’s hips as she walked on in front of her. With every step that she took, her ass would clip side to side. A deep part of Emma wanted to pull her pants down and take a little bite of that apple. She wondered if people from here wore underwear or not. The thought of just being able to pull down those tight pants and take her made the heat in Emma’s stomach build. Henry coughed and brought her back to reality. They had no idea what they were up against. Emma had to steel herself and not let her mind get distracted by her most basic urges before they were going to have to fight for their true lives. Emma and Regina had just gotten into a pattern of life. They didn’t have anything standing in their way; no curse, no men, nothing. Then, everything got fucked up when they got sent here. Regina didn’t even know her name, let alone have the years of memories that they had cultivated together. She sighed as she thought about all the things that Regina was missing. Their bond was seemingly gone. Although Emma knew that she would commit to trying to make Regina fall for her again, if she had to. Hopefully, Henry’s plan would work, though, and they wouldn’t be stuck in this godforsaken hell hole for too much longer. 

 

It took less time than they imagined to come upon the part of the forest that they were heading towards. They found the modest church where Robin and Zelena were to be married. The Author was sure to be inside to watch the final chapter of his diabolical plan. As they came upon the clearing, they realized that the doors to the church were already closed. Emma saw Regina’s face fall, and she could tell that she was thinking that it was already too late. 

 

“Here is the plan” Emma instructed. “Regina, you go and get the Author. Tell him that you have the key and you will use it instantaneously if he does not follow you. We will be waiting out here with the page and a sword, so he should listen to you.”

 

“Alright,” Regina nodded and then headed towards the door of the chapel.

 

Without warning, a twig snapped behind them. Startled, Henry and Emma turned around to find a valiant looking Rumple, donned in a light leather suit of armor. “I am afraid that none of you are crashing this wedding, dearies.” He threatened as he unsheathed his sword. The blade made a soft scraping noise as it was being freed.

 

Emma quickly reached for the sword that she had taken from Henry. She produced it, lifting it in front of her to meet his challenge. “Go. I’ve got the Dark One.” Emma said flatly to Regina. 

 

Rumple scoffed, “Dark One? I think you have the wrong name, dearie.” He pointed his sword into the direction of Emma’s face. 

 

“We will see about that,” Emma challenged through gritted teeth. Emma took the offense, and lunged with a swing of her sword at Rumple. Her sword met his with a clash and their duel started. Emma would inch forward and swing, but the Dark One was quick, and could block most of her attacks. 

 

Regina stood outside the thick doors of the church. She contemplated how best to get into a wedding that had already started to remove a guest.  With a deep inhale, she slowly pushed the door open It was a small wedding, with only maybe twenty or thirty people inside. Regina tried not to feel discouraged by how much harder it was going to be to sneak in and steal the Author, who was sitting strategically in the middle of all the guests. 

 

The officiant rambled on and Regina momentarily got distracted by the look on Robin’s face. He looked very much in love with Zelena, who was no doubt, carrying his child. Regina noticed the small swell of her stomach. Regina felt many emotions bombard her all at once, but jealousy was not one of them. Regina wasn’t awake, so she didn’t have any memories of the relationship she had with either party, but there was something about seeing this young couple together that reaffirmed Regina with her decision to never let a man dictate her happiness. 

 

Just as Regina was about to step into the church, she heard a swoosh of magic and Henry cried out, “Mom!” Regina couldn’t explain why this word being cried out from him pulled at her heart so badly, but she turned to assess what had caused that cry. 

 

Rumple had used magic on Emma to toss and disarm her. She looked mighty pitiful laying on the sacks of flour in an unconscious heap. Her blonde curls cascaded around her, and her expression was blank. She was helpless and defenseless. 

 

Henry, being the brave and unselfish boy that he was, rushed to his biological mother’s side. When he realized that she was unconscious, he grabbed the sword from next to her. It all came down to him. Henry knew that he had to hold off the Dark One long enough for his mom to retrieve the Author from inside. He hoped that Emma would wake up and be able to help them undo all of the Author’s nefarious work before the bells tolled. 

 

“Out of my way, boy!” Rumple snarled as he started to advance on Henry, his sword ready to pierce his unguarded skin. 

 

“You have to get through me to get to her!” Henry shouted. He puffed out his chest to take up more space. He felt bigger and brave than he had ever been before. Henry met the Dark One’s sword with his own and the clink of the ringing metal permeated the clearing. Charming hadn’t gone easy on him during their practice sessions, which had turned Henry into a fairly adequate swordsman. Still, the power of a grown man was intimidating. With every blow, Henry could feel his muscles filling with heat and exhaustion. They dueled back and forth, kicking up dust around them. In this realm, Rumple never caused himself to avoid war, so he didn’t have a limp. He was agile and strong, and Henry didn’t know how long he could hold him off for. 

 

Henry glanced at his fallen mother, then looked for his other one. Regina still hadn’t gone inside the church. She was standing there, one hand in the door, frozen in place. What was she waiting for? Henry wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold off the Dark One. Regina had been frozen in her tracks since Henry had cried out. “Go! You need to get the Author!” Henry bellowed at his stoic mother. 

 

The Dark One took advantage of Henry’s momentary distraction and skillfully disarmed him by knocking the hilt of his sword out of Henry’s hand. With the weapon from his one grandfather on the ground ten feet away from him, Henry looked into the eyes of his other grandfather. He couldn’t tell if Rumple was awake or not. “You wouldn’t hurt me.” Henry said, trying to make himself believe his own words. “You are supposed to be a hero here.”

 

Rumple put his blade underneath Henry’s chin. He looked his grandson in the eye and said through a clenched jaw, “That’s exactly why I must do this- to ensure that I remain one.” Rumple scoffed, confirming his status as awake, “You know, it was once prophesied that you would be my undoing. Well, dearie, it looks like the time has now come to pass.”

 

Regina saw Rumple disarm Henry and started over toward them at that moment. She could not explain this drive that had come over her. She had an overwhelming and uncontrollable urge to protect the boy. Rumple’s sword was now under Henry’s chin as he was speaking to him. She picked up her pace and broke into a sprint when she saw that the Dark One was raising his sword behind his head. Unable to make it the last couple of yards and tackle him to the ground, without thinking, Regina threw her body in front of Henry’s to protect him from the blade. 

 

The sword came down with the haunting power of the Darkness. It split Regina’s skin and sliced through her core. The second that the steel touched her skin, though, something amazing happened. 

 

With a boom like a seismic shift, all of her memories returned. The first couple that filled her head were of Henry. She remembered the day that she picked him up from the adoption agency. His chubby cheeks and inquisitive eyes stared into hers, a look that had not changed much through the years. Another memory floated by, and Regina could feel his little fingers clasped around her palm as she had walked him to his first day of school at Storybrooke Elementary. Another memory flashed by, not of an event in particular, but just Henry’s scrunched up concentrating face. Regina had seen that face more times than she could count. She remembered the day that he had come home with the story book that Mary Margaret had given him, and how it had made his face light up again. Then, she remembered the day that she had been dreading since the day that she had signed the papers officially taking custody of him- the day he introduced her to his birth mother. Regina had known the day was inevitable, but was still taken off guard when a beautiful curly haired blonde in an awful red leather jacket let out a meek, “Hi.” 

 

This memory set off another flood of memories that flashed before her eyes, all involving the Savior. She remembered how they had first come together to save Henry after that damn Apple turnover. She remembered the first time that Emma and her had used their magic together, in the mines to stop the failsafe. The memory was very clear and powerful because it was the first time that she had harnessed her magic through love and hope instead of hate and anger, something that Regina was not aware that she could do. She remembered the first time that she kissed Emma, at the town line. She had been so sure that she would never see either of them again, so she had taken a chance and they had found their way back to her. Memory after memory, flash after flash of golden curls, smiles, and rolled eyes quickly flirted through Regina’s brain. 

 

Regina slumped down against Henry, who gently laid her on the ground. She was bleeding heavily from her abdomen. Henry had his left hand behind his mother’s head, cradling it from the rocks. His right hand was trying to stop the bleeding rushing out from his mother’s stomach, but the wound was too big. He felt the hot prickling of tears at the backs and corners of his eyes. “No!” He cried out, tears rolling down his face, “This isn’t how the story is supposed to end!” He choked the words out between sobs. He mustered his bravery and made eye contact with his mom. 

 

Regina looked back at her son’s tear filled eyes and used her strength to tell him, “You were the best thing I ever did in my life, Henry Daniel Mills.”

 

Henry lost it when his mother said his full name. “You- you remember!” He managed as he used the back of his sleeve to dab the tears away. 

 

“Yes,” Regina grunted. “Tell your mother that she is the best thing that ever happened to me, even though I spent the majority of my life ruining hers. She completed mine.”

 

Henry was confused about the last thing that Regina had said, but chalked it up to Emma’s sacrifice of giving him up. True love is sacrifice. Regina showed him that more than anyone. Her adopting him was the catalyst that had sparked her change. “Mom. Please don’t go. Please. Mom.” Henry sobbed as he noticed his mother weakening. “This is NOT a happy ending! THIS IS NOT HOW IT IS SUPPOSED TO GO!” Henry shouted, a full blown rage filling him. 

 

The shouting brought Emma back from her unconscious state. She glanced around her surroundings, trying to get her bearings. That is when she saw where the noise was coming from. Her son was sobbing over Regina, who was laying on the ground. Both of them were covered in thick fresh blood. 

 

“Regina?!” Emma pleaded as just rushed to stand up and cross over to the pair.

 

“Mom?” Henry asked Regina, shaking her. 

 

“I… I couldn’t let you die..” she managed to say weakly. She lost consciousness. 

 

A bell tolled. 

 

“NO!!!!!!!!” Emma screamed, fury ripping through her like a current in the rapids. 


	23. It’s All Your Circus Now

The church doors opened, and the bride and groom got into their honeymoon carriage. Zelena was a tricky witch but Emma couldn’t be mad at her because with their marriage, Robin was officially off of the market. She wasn’t even awake, to Emma’s knowledge, so Emma let them go on their way before she got her plan of attack in motion. In the chaos of them leaving and Regina bleeding out on the ground, she was afraid that she might miss him. She scanned the crowd. That is when Emma saw him. The Author had filed out of the chapel with the rest of the guests and had a victorious grin on his face. “Listen up, motherfucker,” Emma started as she stormed towards him.

 

“You are too late, Miss Swan,” the Author taunted through his mischievous grin. He was donned in attire of the time, but that didn’t detract from the fact that he still looked like a pompous asshole. He strutted away from the blonde, convinced that his work had been done. They were sealed in their upside down fate where villains got everything they wanted and heroes were stuck in unhappiness for eternity, unaware of what they were missing. It was so much more cruel than what Regina had done all of those years ago  

 

“The fuck if I am!” She exclaimed as she came up on him. Her heart was beating in her ears, forcing white hot anger throughout her body.  She was just reacting now. Her fist was already curled into a ball when she had reached the Author, so she reeled it back and punched the Author square in the nose. With a satisfying crunch, Emma knew that she had broken it. Blood dripped down slowly at first, then all at once. The crimson stickiness flowed down his face into the dirt around him.

 

That wasn’t enough for her though. The Author had taken away the most important person in her life besides her son, and he was going to pay handsomely for that. Emma knew that she had tasted the darkness, and couldn’t help as it manifested itself in her coursing veins. “Who. The. fuck.” Emma grunted, wailing punch after punch on to the Author, who was on the ground now, with Emma on top of him, beating him, “Do you think that you are? You fuck with my life over and over.” Emma socked him again. “First, you convinced my parents to do that awful thing with Lily, under the guise of protecting me. Then you tried to bring the darkness out in me. Now, we are stuck in this fucked up upside down realm, and you took away the mother of my son?!” Emma was positive that some of the bones in her hand had broken, yet she continued to wail on the Author, alternating between punching and pounding him with the sides of her fists.

 

Emma was heartbroken. Her whole world had come apart as well as her heart. Her chest hurt as if she could actually feel it breaking inside of her. She couldn’t seem to get herself to stop attacking the Author. At least when this was over, her outside would hurt so badly, that her inside wouldn’t have to. Emma gritted her teeth, “Fuck You, and your predestined bullshit. We make our own fate.” She landed one final blow to his gut, causing him to cry out before he, too, lost consciousness.

 

Emma stood up and looked at the bloody pulp that was the Author. He was crumpled in a heap on the ground. “You’re nothing but an egomaniac with a special pen,” Emma said, as she spat in the dirt near his head. She wholeheartedly blamed him for Regina’s death. “Lock him up, Henry. Since we are stuck in the God-forsaken hell hole, we might as well put this bastard in one, too.

 

Henry got the page and the key, and went over to the Author. “You killed my mother. I hope you enjoy your alone time, because you are about to have it for the rest of eternity. You don’t even get to keep the pen this time, it is mine now. I will be The Author. I will be unselfish, brave, and true. Nobody deserves what you gave to them. I will right these wrongs and make it where you can never hurt anybody ever again!” Henry said with contempt in his voice before shoving the key into the lock.

 

Henry aimed the page at the man. The lightning started up on the page like it had done back in New York. The tendrils crept off of the page and sucked the Author in with a flash of golden light. “I ought to burn this page for all the hell he has caused us,” Henry said. The Author was gone forever, secured in a prison of his own making, which left Henry and the Savior looking over an unconscious Regina.

 

Emma knelt down next to the beautiful brunette. She placed two fingers on Regina’s neck. Unbelievably, there was still a pulse! It was weak, but she wasn’t dead yet. Emma thought about Regina and smiled as the memories of all of their fights when Emma had first come to town. It had been before Emma had known the truth about where they all were from or who she really was. They were just two mothers trying to do right by their son. She thought about how Regina had taught her basic magic in the beginning, and progressed to more complicated and impressive spells. Emma thought about her magic, the light magic made from true love. Maybe she was strong enough to heal Regina in their world, but she didn’t have magic in this realm. Emma thought about all of the times that she should have kissed Regina but hadn’t and felt the tear surfacing on her eyes.

 

Emma brushed the hair out of Regina’s face, and then delicately placed her palm on Regina’s cheek. She softly moved her thumb back and forth, trying to comfort her. “You know..” Emma started, “there was a time when I probably would not have cared that you were hurt. I had thought that you were a threat. But I realized that you were just trying your best to find your happiness, and isn’t that all that anybody wants?” Emma sucked in a sob, “Fuck, it is even in the Declaration of Independence of the country that you created your curse. ‘Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,’ it just took you a bit to find out what would make you happy, didn’t it?” Emma smiled at Regina. “It took me a while to realize that we were actually very similar. We are both guarded, hard headed, and have our share of built up grief. Our first loves ended horribly, and that made us afraid of everything about love, even just hearing or saying the word.”

 

Emma looked at Regina’s beautiful face underneath her hand. She looked so soft right now, which was a stark contrast to the jagged edged mayor that she was first introduced to. She continued, “Your mother never valued you, aside from your beauty. Which should be valued, because you are beautiful, but that is not all you are. You are everything to me. She destroyed all of your happiness, yet you became an amazing and selfless mother for our son. Our son believes in you so much, Regina, and I do, too. You are strong. You can fight.” Emma had to suck the snot back into her nose. One time, a foster mother that she was staying with had told her to stop crying because she looked ugly when she cried. Emma seldom cried after that, but she couldn’t stop herself right now. She was overcome with emotion. She had many feelings, and it felt as though somebody had turned the tap on for her tears and broke off the handle so she couldn’t stop them.

 

“When Neal left me, I was broken. Then, I found out I was pregnant with his child and knew immediately that I could not raise him. What if he looked like Neal and my heart would break over and over just seeing him? That was one of the more selfish things that I had thought to myself while I was pregnant. I was young and lost and in no position to take care of another human being.” Emma looked back at Henry, who was standing a few yards away from them, and gave him a look that apologized to him without any words. He looked back in her eyes and silently told her that she didn’t need to be forgiven because he understood.

 

“Ever since the day that I gave Henry away, I have felt like there was a hole in my heart. It surprised me to learn that you had felt the same way too, and that is why you adopted my boy. It was like the little piece of my heart that was missing went to fill yours. I can’t stop thinking about how fucking poetic that is,” Emma forced a laughter, and then cradled Regina’s unconscious head in her hands.

 

“I know that that sounds an awful lot like fate, but, Regina, you are the strongest woman that I know, and you taught me that we make our own fate. Sure, life hands us cards, but we decide when, where, and how we play them. You showed me the power of redemption. That people can change. You showed me that change is possible, but is not easy. It is painstakingly heavy to have to be conscious of every decision on your path.” Emma leaned on top of Regina, holding her body close. “That is why you need to push through this, Regina. You have worked too long and too hard to get your happy ending. This isn’t it. We may be stuck here now, but please stay with me, and we can find our way home. I know it.” Emma was starting to get desperate, with every minute that passed by without Regina waking up, the more like it was that she never would.

 

“I used to think that Love was weakness. I had been shown that people can use those feelings to prey on you or to hurt the ones you care about. I know that your mother told you those same things. But, now I know, true love is strength. Love lifts you up where you belong. We are stronger with you, and Regina, you need to be strong for us right now.” The tear were rolling down Emma’s cheek, their hot and sticky trails flowed like rivers down the terrain of her face.

 

Emma looked at Regina, and she had this outpouring of light beaming from her chest out of her heart as shook took in what might be the last moments the she would have with Regina alive. Her tears trickled down her cheeks, and slowly dropped onto Regina’s stoic countenance. While she wept, a thought crept into her head, “What about true love’s kiss?” Henry’s voice echoed in her head.

 

Unable to contain the thought for too long, Emma knew she she needed to try. She needed to try before the hope of it working for her was too strong and she was let down. Emma lifted Regina’s head from the ground, and slowly brought her lips to meet the Queen’s. The moment their flesh met, a pulse went off through the entire realm. Emma pressed her eyes closed even harder and she pushed deeper into the kiss. A light energy filled them and everyone around them. It was going to be okay.

 

With her eyes still closed, a shockwave went through Regina. She felt like she was on fire in a good way as a warmth cloaked her body. She inhaled deeply and started kissing back. She could be in any realm at any time, but she would always recognize those lips. Her dark eyes fluttered open to see Emma knelt over her. They had been transported back to Storybrooke and were donned in their normal clothes. She realized that she was laying on the ground on Main Street, outside of Granny’s diner.

 

“You did it,” Regina said excitedly, thankful that all she could feel was the warmth of love prickling her body, instead of the gaping sword wound that had been there moments before.

 

Emma looked down at Regina. She was alive! She was talking! This meant that true love’s kiss must have worked, and that Regina had to feel the same way about Emma that she had felt about her. Beaming, Emma blurted out, “I love you, Regina Mills.” She was smiling broadly, wiping away the tears that had turned from despair to joy. They were flowing like rivers from her eyes, unable to be stopped.

 

Regina lent a smile to match Emma’s. The words they had been too scared to admit to each other had just left the blonde’s mouth. “I love you, too, Emma Swan,” Regina cooed as she touched Emma’s face gingerly, still not believing that this moment was real. “The whole time that I have heard you being called, ‘The Savior,’ I thought it was because you were going to be saving everybody else. It turns out, it was because you were going to be the one to save me.”

 

Regina sat up and pulled Emma in for a deep kiss, not caring that the residents of Storybrooke had all started appearing back from the other realm and could see them. She held her tightly against her body, and tried to remember every detail about this moment.

 

“I guess you got your happy ending” Emma laughed as she broke the kiss.

 

“That’s not what this is, dear,” Regina said, tucking a messy blonde curl behind her ear.

 

“Then what is it? A happy beginning?” Emma asked.

 

Regina looked around her and took in this world that she had created out of hate. It had turned into a place where she had finally learned how to love. With a full heart, she looked lovingly into Emma’s eyes and said with conviction, “I like to think it is a second chance.”

 

Emma laughed with Regina and motioned Henry over to join them. They all stood there in the middle of Main Street hugging. There was nothing like the love of family. Emma knew that she had found what she was always meant to; love, family, and a happily ever after.

 

#  **THE END.**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! This was basically one long head canon for me so if you made it to the end i sincerely appreciate it! I’m debating doing a Red Queen one shot or Dark Swan AU next. If you liked it, find me on Twitter @jamesonaka


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